‘PENNY’, produced by The Gentle Hand of Ecstasy [CA] for Plunderzone™, the sophomore ULTRAVIRUS compilation, mashes ‘He Doesn’t Know Why’, the 2008 indie folk megahit by Fleet Foxes, with kitschy hardcore tropes gleaned from Thunderdome sample packs - think rave stabs, break beats and angry men yelling things. To honour this ludicrous premise, Sydney based video artists mpeg.fauna [Thorsten Hertog & Keanu Hoi] turned to the gingham clad farm fantasies of #cottagecore. Centred around the idea of ‘a simpler’ life and harmony with nature, #cottagecore is an aesthetic currently trending on Tik Tok and Instagram. Its romanticised vision of agricultural life - aplomb with flowing gardens, butterflies and honey pots - has gained traction in the midst of urban confinement, experienced by many during months of self-isolation. With ‘PENNY’, mpeg.fauna take the idyllic wheat pastures and well-groomed neck-beards so delicately concocted by the dulcet tones of Robin Pecknold, and set them alight with playful irreverence and reckless abandon. Made via correspondence using found footage and 3D animation, the breakneck clip is populated by tractor burnouts, 16th century plague art, demonic farmer avatars, pig masks, carnivorous earthworms and ritualistic mud play.
