Skip Marley preaches a gospel of resilience at the high church of “Lazerism”, in Irrum's spirited video for Can't Take It From Me - in which we see the return of Major Lazer’s fictional namesake.Lazer, the band's one-armed Jamaican superhero, was once their avatar. But since his heyday fighting crime on his own cartoon on Adult Swim, the iconic vigilante has only made a handful of appearances. Now (according to Irrum) Lazer has become a tropical deity. His worshippers follow his comic book as creed, and Skip Marley as his high priest.The video was inspired by the earthy mysticism Cuban artist Alberto del Poz, whose paintings depict the Afro Cuban religion of Santería. The artist’s influence can also be felt in the video’s distinctive, textural visual style, produced here by excellent wardrobe and production design. As usual for him, Irrum has graded his own video, and the lovely, paper-like quality is typical of his work.Meanwhile, Andres Arochi’s photography is on riotous form. His camera is in constant motion, and he depicts culture in flux with a flourish of camera techniques. Including the infamously tricky dolly zoom.
Ned Botwood - 11th June 2019