Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

What this video is

Released January 23, 2017 — three days after the inauguration of Donald Trump — the 'Pure Comedy' video arrived at a moment of acute cultural fracture in the United States. The song's thesis, that humanity is a species born cognitively underprepared for its own imagination, found an immediate resonance in a media landscape drowning in viral absurdity. Siskin's use of internet-found footage as raw material…

Why it matters

The video is a landmark in the tradition of essay-film and collage music videos within indie folk and art-pop. It extends a lineage from early YouTube-era found-footage videos into a politically legible aesthetic statement, distinguishing itself from both the performance-video norm of the genre…

The director

Los Angeles-based creative director, visual artist, and songwriter. Did not attend film school; began career designing websites before transitioning into music video direction and art direction. Has collaborated with artists including Beyoncé, Father John…