Xx: A Sculpture Of The Album

Aside from blowing us all away in the Big Top on Friday The xx will also be loading Saam Farahmand’s groundbreaking, 3D 'xx: a Sculpture of the Album' into their van.

Utilising film, light and sound via three specially created audio-visual units (each unit representing one member of the band with a mix of exclusively filmed footage and mixed sound), every Bestival-goer will have a totally unique experience of The xx. Located in Bestival’s very own permanent cinema onsite this will showcase the recorded album format in a whole new context. In an era where access to music is unlimited and often provides the background soundtrack to other experiences, this will be an opportunity to become totally immersed in the album in a whole new way.

This will be the first realisation of an idea that Saam has been developing for some time, and one that he plans to roll out for other artists.

In Saam’s words:
“Music videos are a 2D visual interpretation of a song. We are interested in creating spaces that exist as a 3D physical interpretation of a song or an album, and that is what we have created for the album xx. It shares sensibilities with art installations but it should not be considered in this context - it is in essence a physical music video, a looping shrine to the album that you cannot compress, send or turn off. We have to understand that these pop up 'rooms' and 'spaces' should and will become as commonplace as music videos, bridging the gap until we have the technology to 'stream' a 3D experience through our home computer as if it was a Youtube clip. The xx are the perfect ambassadors for the medium. Their music is mesmerising, and deeply physically affecting.”

... and you won't see this at any other UK festies!