Pollinators (2020)

Screened at BAM! Berliner Festival für aktuelles Musiktheater 2022
Screened at Sonic Matter, Zürich 2021
Screened at Collaborative Audio Visual Stream Scape Event 2021

Pollinators was inspired by the body’s feeling of constraint when outrage can’t find a way out. While living through the second COVID-19 lockdown held in Germany, the artist experienced the crisis that takes hold when exasperation is trapped in a motionless body. ‘Pollinators’, the third single from Ale Hops’s fourth full-length album The Life of Insects directed by the composer herself, was recorded in 1 square meter and assembles a series of powerful shots of static bodily implosion to accompany the song’s oscillating strenuous guitar strokes and meticulous electronic textures.

“Seeing the recent social uprising that took place in my home country, Peru, following a presidential coup, which was met by brutal police repression, I felt my skin become a vessel from which I could squeeze frustration, seeking relief. This made me think about the possibility of outburst when all that is left is an inert body that absorbs all the surrounding lethargy, distress and burnout that arise from being constantly overwhelmed by media. Harsh guitar motifs and intense layers of distortion in my work are always related to vulnerability and resilience and not to a posture of dominance or appearance of strength. In this video, I delve into the idea of holding to the acceptance of my own vulnerability from my body’s fixated position, which is actually wishing to implode.” 

The Life of Insects can be ordered here.

DIRECTED AND EDITED BY ALE HOP
SHOT BY ALE HOP AND IGNACIO BRICEÑO
ALL MUSIC COMPOSED, RECORDED AND PRODUCED BY ALE HOP
MASTERED BY MANMADE MASTERING, BERLIN, GERMANY.
MASTERING ENGINEER: TIM XAVIER
2020