Hack-ing Away at Gotye

You and more than 200 million of your closest friends have likely seen the colorfully cubist, shape-shifting, viral video for the song “Somebody That I Used to Know” (below) by the Belgian-Australian musician and singer Gotye and his black-bobbed duet partner Kimbra. While the song’s title is the bane of copy writers and grammarians (Somebody WHOM I used to know, Mr. and Mrs. Fussypants), the video serves as perfect platform and visual illustration of Gotye and Kimbra as a disillusioned couple—who in turn serve as canvas for the palette of Australian artist Emma Hack, “skin illustrator” extraordinaire.

Hack bodypainted Gotye a second time, subsequent to the video. The image is incorporated in a work that will be auctioned this Friday, May 25, at the Art Melbourne fair, and exhibited in Hack’s stand beforehand. Recently writer Nic Forrest sat down with Hack for a Q&A that more than connects the dots.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY

Tags: artist, Emma Hack, Gotye, Kimbra, Melbourne, musician and singer, Nic Forrest, skin illustrator, WHOM, writer, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY

Myers, Andrew, writes extensively about architecture, design, and the fine and decorative arts for the Robb Report and Modern Luxury families of magazines, as well as 1stdibs.com and a catalogue of sh ...read more