iamamiwhoami
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On 4 December 2009, a surreal clip less than a minute long appeared on YouTube submitted by iamamiwhoami.[1] A second appeared and then a third. By then, Chris Cantalini and MTV writer James Montgomery picked up on the clips fueling speculation that had been building in blogs.[2][3]The clip has gone viral.[4]
The case
To date, iamamiwhoami has released seven short videos, the first six videos featuring a provocative slime-covered girl and, as Montgomery says, "a dendrophiliac’s wet dream, loaded with images of a mud-smeared woman licking a tree and some strangely sexualized sap."[2] The music is a compelling mix of alternative rock, industrial rock, trance music and dubstep though the woman's voice appears to be distorted and or muted at points in each video, they are believed to be part of a viral marketing campaign. The seventh video featured a woman covered in tape from head to toe, playing the electric organ.
The clues
The first six videos are titled with a series of numbers. When indexed into the alphabet, these spell out words such as "educational", "I am", "its me", "mandragora", and "officinarum". Mandragora officinarum is the mandrake root, particularly when used for psychedelic purposes. The first series of videos seem to depict the heroine as blooming into a mandrake flower or "womandrake". [5]
Each of the first six clips closes with a drawing of an animal– a goat, an owl, a whale, an insect, a llama, and a monkey. After previously blogging about the anonymous clips Mtv writer James Montgomery received a package by messenger with a lock of hair from a blonde wig, a piece of bark, and a pictogram of the four animals with the questions "says what?"[2], it is however, still unproven that the sender of the package is the same as the person behind the clips.
Furthering the mystery; the sixth clip ends with the heroine's whispered question, "Why?" or "Y?"[5]
The seventh clip was posted without the mysterious coded numbers as previous clips were, and is instead titled simply "b". This video features a woman wrapped in plastic, watched over by three men and a black cat. Unlike the others, it does not include an animal illustration at the end or a numeric code.
The clips
In order, the clips with titles and associated animal are:[5]
- Prelude 699130082.451322-5.4.21.3.1.20.9.15.14.1.12 (goat)
- 9.1.13.669321018 (owl)
- 9.20.19.13.5.723378 (whale)
- 13.1.14.4.18.1.7.15.18.1.1110 (bee)
- 15.6.6.9.3.9.14.1.18.21.13.56155 (llama)
- 23.5.12.3.15.13.5-8.15.13.5.3383 (monkey)
- b
The suspects
Much speculation has focused on the funding and resources behind the video clips. Blogs have focused on Trent Reznor, Little Boots, The Knife, especially Karin Dreijer Andersson, Goldfrapp, Christina Aguilera, Lady GaGa, and The Golden Filter. Some of them denied their involvement [6] or has already released their own, obviously iamamiwhoami non related, music. As of March 2010, no one has clearly been identified with the project. Many have begun to focus on Jonna Lee though as of March 15th her American management company denies this, and releases from her up coming album sound little like the eerie sound of "iamamiwhoami" video clips.
References
- ^ "iamamiwhoami". YouTube. 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
- ^ a b c Who's Behind 'Iamamiwhoami' Viral Clips?
- ^ Gorilla vs Bear– iamamiwhoami
- ^ The Times Online, by Priya Elan
- ^ a b c Musical Mystery
- ^ Trent Reznor denies connection to iamamiwhoami videos
External links
- "iamamiwhoami". YouTube. 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2010-03-15.