A R I Z O N A – Moving On (Director’s Cut): The Biggest Land Art in Arizona

Captions provided by CCTubes – Captioning the Internet! I worked with Navajo Nation to create the single biggest piece of temporary land art in Arizona history to direct this music video for A R I Z O N A, a major band with over a billion Spotify streams. The only land art that’s bigger in the state is James Turrell’s Roden Crater. Plus, it’s the first time in music video history that land art has been created for a music video. Click the gear button to watch it in 4K here.

Part art film, part documentary short, the story begins in a dry riverbed amidst 300 foot wide art and ends with a spectacle of light unlike anything captured on film before.

The project was made in partnership with Navajo Nation and with the help of 30+ Navajo. They created the massive piece of art with one of the world’s best land art artists, Jim Denevan. His work has been featured everywhere from MoMA to Sotheby’s to The New York Times. But never in a music video. This is his first.

For the grand finale, we built a lighting rig the size of a football field to pair the 300 feet wide land art with a 300 feet tall light show. I wanted to create a piece of art for A R I Z O N A’s song “Moving On” that could help anyone struggling to move on from a difficult time. So to make a beacon of hope, I designed a beacon of light – one bright enough to light up even the darkest of nights.

Plus, we also worked with the National Park Service to place three ten feet tall mirrored sculptures in some of Arizona’s most famous national parks, like Sedona’s Cathedral Rock National Park. I placed them in several of the 100+ parks that rejected our land art application. After that app was denied, I sent in others asking to place our mirror art in the same location, which were eventually approved. I wanted to tell the story in the film of all the rejection we had to overcome make it, as well as visually show resilience in the face of failure.

After releasing the first version of this music video, I spent six more months making this director’s cut to reveal for the first time how we worked with Navajo Nation to create art designed to inspire hope. Between making both versions, searching for months for our land art location, acquiring a mountain of government permits and creating our first-of-its-kind production design, it took over a year to bring the project to life.

The film is dedicated to the Navajo, without which it would not have been possible.

AWARDS:

– Ciclope Shortlist 2023
Best Production Design in a Music Video
https://tinyurl.com/ciclopeshortlist

– Beyond the Short 2023

PRESS:

– Designboom
https://tinyurl.com/designboomarizona

– Curation Hour
https://tinyurl.com/curationhour

FULL CREW LIST:

Directed By:
Owen Brown
@owenbrownyc

Land Artists:
Jim Denevan
Brighton Denevan

Creative Agency: CTRL5
Concept By: Owen Brown

Director of Photography: Jacen Sievers
Production Companies: CTRL5, ReelBros

Producers:
Owen Brown
Colby Sassano
John Hebrank

Associate Producers:
Jake Posner

Josh Chomik
Joshua Granados

Production Design:
Jim Denevan
Owen Brown
Brighton Denevan

1st AD: Colby Sassano
1st AC: Eric Danescu
2nd AC: Tyler Chandler
Camera Op: Josh Chomik
Camera Movement Co: Reelmotion
Movement Op: John Hebrank
Jib Operator: Chance Martin
Camera Op: Alex Schreer

Lighting Design Co: Lit Lighting
Lighting Producer: Chris Lit
Lighting Designer: James Simpson
Lighting Grip: Chris Kirma
Lighting Assistant: Arthur Hatton

Navajo Nation Team:
Edsel Pete
Raquel Bahe
Kaene E. Antonio
Navajo Nation Fire Dept

Land Art Team:
Jon Hammond
Andrew Arneson
Jared Red
Nathan Yoch
David Blum
Cordell John
Marlena Slim
Augus Begay
Lydell Attakai
Samantha Begay
Gerald Begay
Khalid Honie
JR Yazzie
Brian Yazzie

Editors:
Jeb Hardwick
David Labuguen
Josh Chomik

VFX:
Jeb Hardwick
Andrew Gooch

Color: Company3
Colorist: Tyler Roth
Color Producer: Nadia Dabibi

Stylist: Elena Lark

Label Team:
Chelsea Dankner
Mandee Mallonee

Photography:
Abi Polinsky
Josh Chomik

Photo Assistant:
Lucas Brahme

Drone Photography:
Josh Chomik
Brighton Denevan

Special Thanks:
Pascal Zuta
Jeb Hardwick
Sophie Everhard
Evelyn Lannak
Becca Miller

Dedicated to Navajo Nation