“A R I Z O N A - Moving On (Director's Cut)” by Owen Brown
In Navajo Nation, one of the world’s best land artists teams up with the band A R I Z O N A to create one of the biggest pieces of land art in Arizona history. Directed by SXSW winner Owen Brown, this cinematic musical experience begins in a dry riverbed amidst 300 foot wide art and ends with a spectacle of light unlike anything captured on film before.
Part documentary short, part music video, this project was made in partnership with Navajo Nation and with the help of 30+ Navajo. They created the massive piece of art with legendary land artist Jim Denevan, who’s been featured in MoMA, Art Basel, Sotheby's and The New York Times. The only art that’s bigger in the state is James Turrell’s Roden Crater.
Part documentary short, part music video, this project was made in partnership with Navajo Nation and with the help of 30+ Navajo. They created the massive piece of art with legendary land artist Jim Denevan, who’s been featured in MoMA, Art Basel, Sotheby's and The New York Times. The only art that’s bigger in the state is James Turrell’s Roden Crater.
For the grand finale, the team built a lighting rig the size of a football field to pair a 300 feet tall light show with the 300 feet wide land art. You won’t find a single photo or video that looks anything like it because nothing like this has ever been done. This otherworldly environment sets the stage for A R I Z O N A, a band that’s earned over a billion Spotify streams. They've performed on the main stage at festivals like Coachella, but never on one quite like this.
For their song “Moving On”, our director wanted to create a film that could be a beacon of hope for anyone struggling to move on from a difficult time. To do that, he created a beacon of light for this project – a proverbial ray of hope in the form of literal rays of light, 300 feet high.
The film is dedicated to the Navajo, who moved mountains to bring it to life. They found its location, deep in the heart of Navajo Nation, in a dry riverbed. Afterwards, dozens worked with Denevan for seven days straight – from sunup to sun down – to build the land art.
Our director spent eight months making this director’s cut so he could tell the story of working with the Navajo to create the biggest land art ever made in Navajo Nation, as well as a spectacle of light unlike anything the world’s ever seen.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“In Navajo Nation, one of the world’s best land artists teams up with the band A R I Z O N A to create the biggest piece of temporary land art in Arizona history. The music video that this colossal project was built for begins in a dry riverbed amidst 300 feet wide art and ends with a spectacle of light, unlike anything captured on film before.
It was directed by SXSW winner Owen Brown, who’s worked with Jay-Z, Bob Moses, SOFI TUKKER, Apple, Rema, and Barack Obama. He’s won 15+ major awards for his work at places like the Webby Awards, the Clio Awards and at SXSW, where he’s been nominated for best music video, won a grand prize in design and this year, served on SXSW's film festival jury.
The project was made in partnership with Navajo Nation and with the help of 30+ Navajo. They worked with legendary land artist Jim Denevan, who’s been featured in MoMA, Sotheby's and The NY Times. Together they created the second biggest piece of land art ever made in Arizona history. The only land art that’s bigger in the state is James Turrell’s Roden Crater.
For the film’s grand finale, the team built a lighting rig the size of a football field to pair a 300 feet tall light show with the 300 feet wide land art. You won’t find a single photo or video that looks anything like it because nothing like this has ever been done before.
This otherworldly environment sets the stage for A R I Z O N A, a major band that’s earned over a billion Spotify streams. They've performed on the main stage at festivals as big as Coachella, but never on one quite like this.
No one has created anything like this project in the history of art, or film. It's the first time in music video history that a major piece of land art has been created for a music video. Plus, it's one of the biggest pieces of land art ever made in Navajo Nation.
The project is dedicated to the Navajo, who moved mountains to bring it to life. They found its location, deep in the heart of Navajo Nation, in a dry riverbed. Afterwards, dozens worked with Denevan for seven days – from sunup to sun down – to build the land art.
Why was it made? To create a beacon of hope for anyone struggling to move on from a difficult time – a proverbial ray of hope in the form of literal rays of light, 300 feet high.”
-Owen Brown
Credits
Director// Owen Brown/ @owenbrownyc
Lead Land Artists// Jim Denevan/ @jimdenevan & Brighton Denevan/ @brightondenevan
Creative Agency// CTRL5/ @ctrl5studios
Production Companies// ReelBros/ @reelbros.tv & CTRL5/ @ctrl5studios
Navajo Nation Team// Edsel Pete, Raquel Bahe, & Kaene E. Antoni/ @navajonationtvandfilm
Producers// Colby Sassano/ @colbysassano , John Hebrank/ @thephotojohn , Owen Brown/ @owenbrownyc
Editors// Jeb Hardwick/ @jebhardwick , David Labuguen/ @dlabuguen , & Josh Chomik/ @chomik
Director of Photography// Jacen Sievers/ @jacensievers
Associate Producers// Jake Posner/ @posner , Joshua Granados/ @joshgrana2 , & Josh Chomik/ @chomik
Lighting Design// Lit Lighting/ @litlighting
1st AC// Eric Danescu/ @ericdanescu
2nd AC// Tyler Chandler/ @tylerchandlerdp
Camera Operator// Josh Chomik/ @chomik
Camera Movement Co// Reelmotion/ @reelmotion.tv
Movement Operator// John Hebrank/ @thephotojohn
Jib Operator// Chance Martin/ @chancemartin__
Camera Operator// Alex Schreer/ @schreerluck
Lighting Grip// Chris Kirma/ @kirma.c
Land Art Team:
Jared Red/ @reditornot
Nathan Yoch/ @nathan_yoch
Dave Blum/ @daveblum1
Khalid Honi/ @artisticfreedom_
Stylist// Elena Lark/ @elenalark
VFX// Jeb Hardwick/ @jebhardwick & Andrew Gooch/ @ultra.studio
Color Co// Company3/ @company_3
Colorist// Tyler Roth/ @ty.roth
Photography// Abi Polinsky/ @AbiPolinsky & Josh Chomik/ @chomik
Drone Photography// Brighton Denevan/ @brightondenevan & Josh Chomik/ @chomik
Photo Assistant// Lucas Brahme/ @Lucasrahme
Label Team// Chelsea Danker/ @cheldank & Mandee Mallonee/ @mandeemallonee
Special Thanks:
Pascal Zuta/ @pascalzuta
Jeb Hardwick/ @jebhardwick
Sophie Everhard/ @sophieeanna
Evelyn Lannak/ @ezale327
Becca Miller/ @_bex_trex_
Dedicated to Navajo Nation #navajonation
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