Michel Gondry on a cloudy Thursday morning...

Michel Gondry was born in Versailles, France. His career as a filmmaker began with creating music videos for the French rock band Oui Oui, in which he also served as a drummer. The style of his videos for Oui Oui caught the attention of music artist Björk, who asked him to direct the video for her song "Human Behaviour". The collaboration proved long-lasting, with Gondry directing a total of seven music videos for Björk. Other artists who have collaborated with Gondry on more than one occasion include Daft Punk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Steriogram, Radiohead, and Beck. Gondry has also created numerous television commercials. He pioneered the "bullet time" technique later adapted in The Matrix,[1] notably in his "Like a Rolling Stone" video for the Rolling Stones and a 1998 commercial for Smirnoff vodka, as well as directing a trio of inventive holiday-themed advertisements for GAP.

Favorite Videos BAM!

(Daft Punk: Around the World)


(Bjork: Human Behavior)

The Director as Artist:
In September 2006, Gondry made his debut as an installation artist at Deitch Projects in New York's SoHo gallery district. The show, called "The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts" featured props from his film, The Science of Sleep, as well as film clips and a selection of gifts that the artist had given to women he was interested in, many of them former or current collaborators, Karen Baird, Kishu Chand, Dorothy Barrick and Lauri Faggioni.[3] A leitmotif of the film is a 'Disastrology' calendar, Gondry commissioned the painter Baptiste Ibar[4] to draw harrowing images of natural and human disasters.
Gondry has returned to Deitch again this month for another installation this time for the release of his upcoming movie "Be Kind Rewind". Gondry has recreated the movie’s artfully low-fi sets within Deitch’s cavernous exhibition space and allow fans to run amok, shooting their very own movies as they went, thus transforming the art world into a “fun” place, if only for one nite. Gondry’s transformation of the space was complete, right down to the gallery’s facade which became the movie’s video store for the occasion. More info about the exhibition can be found at: www.deitch.com
(Be Kind Rewind: Trailer)

(Photos of the exhibit)