Polish composer Wojtek shares carbon-neutral video for new single ‘Illusions’ ft. Hildur
July 29th - Having just released his stunning new album ‘Atmosphere’ on July 24th through The Orchard Artist Services, a record that was produced and written carbon neutrally, Polish-born Berlin-based virtuoso Wojtek now unveils the new video for his latest single ‘Illusions’ ft. Hildur.
With creating a completely carbon neutral album at the heart of this new project, the concept behind the new video is to deliver a parallel between the natural and urban world that we now live in. Using shots of both scenic landscape and inner-city imagery, the film overlaps these two polar environments to show us that harmony and coexistence can be achieved with the right thought and mindset.
In order to minimise usage of newly produced materials and instead reuse existing resources, the official video has been created from preexisting video footage instead of producing a new one. To achieve this, Wojtek and his creative team turned to their music community for support and invited other creatives to partner up on this cause - artists, labels, etc. and share their pre- or unused and/or existing video materials.
This film was made from exclusively repurposed video footage from artists who donated and supported Wojtek to make a new piece of art with no carbon footprint: Hildur, BOBBi, Sebastian Zawadzki, Misia Furtak, MajLo, Lor, Michał Kmieciak, Ola Cieślewicz, Sebastian Zawadzki, Tomasz Chrapek and Georg Bungard.
Speaking about the video, Wojtek said, “‘Illusions’ is about our imagination, subjective point of view, seeing the world from the prism of your personal experiences and emotions. The video captures this abstract problem and juxtaposes two different worlds: city and nature. It reminds us where we come from and to where we will return and that our modern urban life is our illusion, a system created by the mind. I like how the clip portrays this in a creative, sensitive, sensual and abstract way.”
Masterful editing by the London-based director and film editor Balan Evans, known for his work with Let’s Eat Grandma, James Newman, Jaime Cullen and more, gave the donated footage a new life. Magdalena Jensen, Creative Director on the video, worked with Balan in tandem to develop a story out of the pre-used footage that beautifully captured the essence of Wojtek’s music and the messaging in Illusions.
Balan says, “Working with footage that is sourced from films already posed a unique challenge but I loved the fact we were aiming to make a carbon neutral edit. It’s always fun doing new things, especially if they help the planet and make you float like Wojtek’s music does!”
Adding about the process, Magdalena said, “It was such a challenging process but what evolved from a bunch of seemingly random footage is something we are all super proud of. It’s a new piece of art that both appeals to the eye and provokes viewers to think a little bit - I think everyone can relate to this desire to escape urban hecticness for the solace of more natural environments. I’m just happy we were able to create art that does not contribute to more environmental damage and is zero waste with minimal (and compensated!) carbon emissions.”
As an architect by profession, space and sound play an integral role in his music. Wojtek is passionate about the environment and hopes to inspire others towards being climate positive with the 'Atmosphere' album and project. The album was recorded at Baltic Studios in East London, as they use renewable energy to power the studio, any remaining emissions from composing, mixing and mastering are offset to be clean through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates and the album is being distributed digitally to eliminate waste.
Speaking about the idea behind the new album, he said, "Each phase of music production generates carbon emissions into the atmosphere and I am fully aware of this. My mission was to write, record and produce a carbon neutral album. Fortunately, I was able to record Golden and the rest of the album in Baltic Studio in London - they use a renewable energy provider and therefore, I was able to ensure that fewer kilos of CO2 were released into the atmosphere."
In order to minimise usage of newly produced materials and instead reuse existing resources e.g. official music videos have been created from preexisting video footage instead of producing new ones. To achieve this, we turn to our music community for support and invite other creatives to partner with us on this cause - artists, labels, etc. and share with us their unused and/or existing video materials.
Wojtek's understanding of space and sound is audible in his songs. He approaches music with an intuitive reflection rarely found in a young artist. “Atmosphere” will sweep you along on a sonic journey, incorporating samples from the world around him, techno beats from Berlin basements and a spatial fluidity that defines Wojtek’s sound.
Winner of Headliners of Tomorrow competition 2018, his debut album ‘Instinct’ released with 1631 Recordings, a boutique Swedish label. The entire pressing of ‘Instinct’ sold out. Live, Wojtek has played over 50 concerts in Poland since late 2017, including Opener 2018, Copernicus Planetarium in Warsaw and many more.
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