Em Cooper by Carsten Windhorst
The super deluxe version of The Beatles’ 1966 classic ‘Revolver’ was released last week.
A video for the remastered 2022 version of The Beatles’ Revolver album track I’m Only Sleeping has been premiered – a true labour of love for director Em Cooper who painted each frame individually on oil over the course of several months.
“It was a project that I felt an immediate spark for right from the word go, and somehow that momentum carried me right through to the end,”Cooper said.
“I love The Beatles. We used to listen to this song on tape in the car when I was a child, and the song itself evokes such a mesmerising, languid, dreamy state, in a way my job was only to follow its lead with a paintbrush in my hand.”
“The song offers up many readings and I think it feels especially relevant right now.”
“I began with the thought that this would simply be John drifting in and out of sleep, flowing between wakefulness and memory and peppered with surreal moments, dipping into the history of The Beatles, with everything fleeting and ungraspable. But the meanings of the film soon began to spread out, encompassing The Beatles’ anti-war feelings, and reflecting on our place in the world.”
“In my work I’ve always been interested in using paint to evoke thought, or subjective experience – the way things flow inside your mind.”
“So for me this song which sways between the inner world of sleep and the outer world of waking, was a thrilling and beautiful opportunity.”
