Cole Kush is an engineer. But he doesn’t build bridges or skyscrapers. He is a social engineer with brilliant precision. He sees a layer of the onion that few can. Conversing with Cole reveals an unrivaled deadpan, so much so that it can be almost impossible to separate the earnest from the ironic without knowing him intimately. Cole’s VR video work isn’t far from this constant questioning of reality, as the subjects of his videos are easily recognizable but far from real. Perhaps Cole’s mildly disturbing, but undeniably human, music videos find their surreal magic less in the technicality of the medium and more in his singular and unique understanding of the human social condition. – Scott Parsons
Self-portraits made for Walter TV’s music video Master Ludi, 2014
Alex Calder album art for Strange Dreams, 2015
Mac Demarco as ‘Dave Fuck’, from the dream sequence in Cole’s mockumentary Backer, 2014
Jerry Paper, from the video game Dr. Javier Genneheigen’s Chameleon World, released alongside his album Big Pop for Chameleon World, 2014. Pictured here: game 8 and game 3. Level design by Jon Schmidt
Cole Kush
PRINTED IN ISSUE 12
Cole Kush is an engineer. But he doesn’t build bridges or skyscrapers. He is a social engineer with brilliant precision. He sees a layer of the onion that few can. Conversing with Cole reveals an unrivaled deadpan, so much so that it can be almost impossible to separate the earnest from the ironic without knowing him intimately. Cole’s VR video work isn’t far from this constant questioning of reality, as the subjects of his videos are easily recognizable but far from real. Perhaps Cole’s mildly disturbing, but undeniably human, music videos find their surreal magic less in the technicality of the medium and more in his singular and unique understanding of the human social condition. – Scott Parsons
Self-portraits made for Walter TV’s music video Master Ludi, 2014
Alex Calder album art for Strange Dreams, 2015
Mac Demarco as ‘Dave Fuck’, from the dream sequence in Cole’s mockumentary Backer, 2014
Jerry Paper, from the video game Dr. Javier Genneheigen’s Chameleon World, released alongside his album Big Pop for Chameleon World, 2014.
Pictured here: game 8 and game 3. Level design by Jon Schmidt
Walter TV, from music video for Master Ludi, 2014