Aphex Twin - Flex (by Chris Cunningham)

What this video is

Flex represents a precise cultural hinge point: the moment UK electronic music's most celebrated visual collaborator — Chris Cunningham — formally exited the MTV promotional economy and entered the international fine art circuit. Commissioned by the Anthony d'Offay Gallery for the Royal Academy's 'Apocalypse: Beauty & Horror in Contemporary Art' exhibition in 2000, it situates Aphex Twin's music within a lineage of…

Why it matters

Flex is a foundational document of the IDM-to-gallery-art pipeline that emerged from the Warp Records ecosystem in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It demonstrates how the aesthetics of UK electronica — rhythmic precision, body abstraction, transgressive imagery — could be translated into…

The director

Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970) is an English video artist and music video director known for work with Aphex Twin, Björk, Madonna, Autechre, and Squarepusher. Early career included comic book work for 2000 AD and animatronic design for Stanley…