The ladies are out to Kill! Kill! in the latest Antony and the Johnsons music video, directed by photographer and video artist Nabil Elderkin. The video for the single, literally and appropriately titled, “Cut the World”, plays like a brief operatic, cinematic experience. It opens with Willem Dafoe staring dramatically out into the world from behind his stark office-room glass window, fondling with what may be a wedding ring. His secretary, played by Carice van Houten (Melisandre in “Game of Thrones,” for fans of the show), then greets him while delivering a report and an empty smile. As she returns to her office, she begins crying and suddenly gets all Rosemary’s Baby on us, carrying a sharp knife to Dafoe’s office and slitting his neck. Once she leaves the office, she is joined by hundreds of more women, including renowned performance artist babe Marina Abramović, covered in blood and armed with weapons—presumably from men they, too, have killed.
While it isn’t directly stated, the video seems to speak to gender inequality and repression in the work place. And, although her appearance is brief, the crimson-lipped Abramović delivers a look that could kill. The song from the video was originally composed for Robert Wilson’s play The Life and Death of Marina Abramović, a tribute to the artist’s iconic career. Watch the video below, but—heads up (ha!)—the neck slicing scene is kind of gross.
