Beck - The New Pollution

JUL 01 1997 · 12:00

Beck - The New Pollution (1997) Director: Beck Era: Post-Grunge Alternative Boom (1997) - Peak MTV alternative era; artist-directed video phenomenon redefining authorship in music video production Exceptionally high. A three-time VMA-winning video self-directed by one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the 1990s, drawn from a Grammy-winning album. Technically and culturally emblematic of the mid-1990s MTV alternative peak. The video's quantitative fingerprint, fast pace, warm high-contrast palette, dense choreographed staging, is directly legible as a product of its era and its director's postmodern visual intelligence. Essential archival reference for studies of 1990s music video aesthetics, artist authorship, and retro-pop cultural recycling. Context: Released in February 1997 as the third single from Odelay, 'The New Pollution' arrived during the peak commercial and creative height of 1990s MTV alternative culture. The video exemplifies a mid-decade shift toward artist-controlled, conceptually ambitious music video production. Beck's self-direction channels a deliberately anachronistic 1960s pop-art aesthetic, drawing on Serge Gainsbourg's visual vocabulary and mod-era television variety formats to construct an ironic, affectionate collage of retro glamour. This postmodern strategy, citing and recombining 20th-century pop imagery, mirrored Beck's musical method of genre-collaging and sample-layering, and resonated with a Generation X audience fluent in media self-awareness. The video's VMA sweep in 1997 cemented its status as a benchmark of artist-driven visual creativity in the era. Director notes: Directed by Beck himself, the video for 'The New Pollution' features 1960s-style dancing and backgrounds, and contains visual references to Serge Gainsbourg's music videos for 'Monsieur William' and 'Melody,' as well as the bands Mötley Crüe and Kraftwerk. Beck appears wearing an electric blue suit, performing on a stage while dancers in 1960s-style clothing move around him; he also drives a vintage car in intercut sequences. The video was produced by Bart Lipton and edited by Eric Zumbrunnen. Choreography was handled by Peggy Hickey, and art direction by K.K. Barrett. At the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, the video won Best Direction in a Video (Beck), Best Art Direction in a Video (K.K. Barrett), and Best Choreography in a Video (Peggy Hickey), and was nominated for Video of the Year and Best Alternative Video.