Area Z presents a new video from Hystérie by visual artist Chloé Burkiewicz. She returns for a second collaboration with the collective after her work for The Undertaker’s Tapes on Lieder and now creates an image to the EP’s opening track “Protéger et Servir”.
Literally meaning “Protect and Serve” in French, the synth-punk trio offers a track born from a reflection after a terrorist attack at a concert in Paris in 2016. They came to discover the overwhelming presence of military force and armed police in airports and all over the streets. As a result from this period, a general feeling of anxiety and paranoia slowly settled, disguised in the form of "global protection", in which anyone could be the next enemy.
The band mentions the fact that today, French society remains more fractured than ever and that police violence is occurring more and more clearly and is spreading rapidly. Maintaining order becomes an excuse for the state to apply brutal repression and remaining silent would make us accomplices of the current events.
The video was commissioned during the lockdown and the artist ironically highlighted the dichotomy between police and medical services, both which operate for protecting and serving purposes. While suffering from the both sides, healthcare workers have been protesting AND working tirelessly for the past months for better working conditions and were often victims of police violence during their protests.
With respect to the recent events that have shaken our society and in solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement, all the digital sales of Hystérie will be donated to ActBlue in the fight against racism and other Police Brutality Funds for the next two weeks starting from today.
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