Most artists make one big splashy video for their latest single and then move on to the next one. As she’s proven over and over again, though — most recently at the VMAs, where she stayed in her Jo Calderone character all night long — Lady Gaga is not most people.
After announcing on Twitter on Thursday that she shot five “fashion films” set to “You and I” with Dutch fashion photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, she unleashed the first clip later that day, “Haus of U Featuring Nymph.”
In typical Gaga fashion, it is perplexing, mesmerizing and just a bit odd, and nothing like the way-more elaborate, official music video for the rocking ballad. The barely two-minute black-and-white clip has Gaga pulling off a series of balletic twists and turns while wearing a simple slip dress and ballet slippers, her blonde hair loose and waving in the wind or up in a bun. At various points, there appear to be moths or some other kind of insect flying around in the background and lying dead on the ground.
Pop star Lady Gaga has teamed up with Dutch fashion photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin to produce five fashion-inspired vignettes for her latest single “You And I.”
The first video, entitled “You And I: Nymph,” was released on Thursday and featured the singer posing and pirouetting in a series of black-and-white clips shot by the famed fashion photographer duo.
The 2-minute 10-second video was the creative brainchild of Lady Gaga, who partnered with her stylist Nicola Formichetti to deliver a minimalistic performance dressed in a simple dress with neutral make-up, a far cry from her usual elaborate style as seen in her previous videos.
The pop star, who is known for her quirky avant garde outfits, first collaborated with high fashion photography duo van Lamsweerde and Matadin in May this year for V Magazine’s Asian issue. The photographers have shot campaigns for fashion brands such as Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent, and have had their work featured in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle Magazine, among others.
The official video for “You And I,” the fourth single from the album “Born This Way,” premiered on August 18. Thursday’s fashion film release coincides with Lady Gaga’s latest column in the October issue of V Magazine, in which she attacks New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn for recent, negative reviews of the singer.
Horyn criticized designer Donatella Versace for praising Lady Gaga’s Versace outfits, in her June 17, 2011 “On The Runway” blog, writing “Be choosier, Ms. Versace.”
Lady Gaga responded to Horyn in her column, asking “shouldn’t columnists and reviewers, such as Cathy Horyn, employ a more modern and forward approach to criticism, one that separates them from the average individual at home on their laptop?”
There was no further announcement from Lady Gaga on when the remaining four videos by van Lamsweerde and Matadin will be released.