Premiere: Marcus Whale – ‘Vulnerable’

"A moment of pause..."

Marcus Whale established himself as a unique performer and a vital artist through his work with Collarbones and BV, before deciding to focus on solo endeavours.

The Australian artist released his ‘Inland Sea’ full length in the middle of last year, a fascinating return that delved into notions of class, race, gender, and art itself.

Continually pushing ahead, Marcus hooked up with director Matthew Taylor to craft a dynamic video for album cut ‘Vulnerable’.

Marcus explains:

“I've long been an admirer of Matthew Taylor's videos (along with his drumming in Making, but that's another story) for bands like Mere Women, so I was surprised and delighted when he approached me to use ‘Vulnerable’ in a film. I managed to talk him into making a video that exploits the significant Venn diagram between our interests – the brutality of the male condition, its attraction to violence and power and the tension therefore between my desire and its toxicity.”

The track itself is a work of abstract introversion, it’s meditative tone belying a desire to skip past boundaries. “’Vulnerable’ is a moment of pause on the ‘Inland Sea’ album which largely glorifies homophilia, problematising the age old (for me) question of how I can justify the love of men and masculine energy under patriarchy. What does it mean to submit, to go "under his hands"? Doesn't this desire and these acts reinforce the patriarchy? What does it do to a person to give them this power?”

“The video abstractly and literally plays out this drama, a menacing larger figure inspecting and eclipsing my body under torchlight. Sexuality to me is always political. I consider this song and video my way of deconstructing the gender play in mine.”

The clip opens with a direct Biblical quote, before delving into some inventive effects. “The quote at the beginning of the clip is from Psalm 140. The majority of the video was shot using a reflective fabric stretched over a frame, so what you see is my reflection being literally manipulated by someone's hands”.

Watch it now.

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