You are about to see a mash-up of a man screaming at yellow paint and Coldplay's "Yellow". I'm just telling you that now, so you can prepare yourself for the fact that nothing....meaningful is going to happen in this post. This isn't one of those posts where, like, you're going to learn something. But it's going to be wonderful nonetheless. In 2000, Coldplay casually released a song called "Yellow" which—WHO KNEW—would enjoy become a pop culture staple, spending the next decade or so appearing in endless rom-com and TV moments. These moments included but were not limited to those involving: a big truth bomb just dropped, someone dumps someone else, there's no more ice cream in the freezer after all (I could be mixing up movies with my own life experiences). Someone finally capitalized on this madness. This is it, guys. The definitive tribute to "Yellow" we've all been waiting for.
It's not like this song hasn't gotten its share of love lately. It also appeared recently in the opening credits for last year's most perfect film Boyhood. Guys, even Harry Styles knows Coldplay is romantic and therefore appropriate in most important film and life scenarios (especially first dates, obviously). What I never considered, however, is the song's adaptability to more abstract art. Namely, a series of shades of yellow.
So in this mash-up, we see a guy leaning into a canvas, painting careful strokes of various shades of yellow while emitting various octaves of screaming. It's audio and visual art married and it is beautiful, especially when paired with the actual Coldplay track and footage from the original video. I don't even know what's happening here and I'm into it.
What isn't happening? We see desperation, grief, joy, existentialism. Y'all, this is basically Nietzsche in YouTube form.
Apparently the man shouting while painting is not only some bored dude in a garage and possibly stoned. It's South Korean painter Kim Beom. The original video was intended as a tutorial for "scream painting," which, OK, sure. This mash-up featuring Coldplay is not the only stab at syncing Beom's wild howls to, um, other sounds. There are many other attempts, but hands down the only one that holds a candle to the Coldplay rendition is this metal version:
Honestly, I'd shell out decent money to see Beom take lead with scream painting, backed by a metal band. That would be a killer show. I wonder if he would be game?
Images: YouTube(3)
