A Guided Tour Through Escher's Paradise | Prefuse 73's "Still Pretending"

We spoke to lilfuchs, the animator behind Prefuse 73's trippy new video for "Still Pretending."

by Beckett Mufson

September 22, 2015, 5:00pm

Screencaps via

A brisk walk through the nth dimension. A geometric playground that defies physics. Architecture on acid. All of these could be used to describe the mesmerizing new video for Guillermo Scott Herren, a.k.a. Prefuse 73's "Still Pretending," a smoky electronic track from his latest album Forsyth Gardens. Each scene melts into the next, forming an endless hallway bursting with surreal scenery that breathes in time to the music.

Our tour guide through this otherworldly, Escher-esque landscape is an animator who goes by the moniker lilfuchs. Known for making trippy films featuring animals and objects that transform seamlessly into one another, lilfuchs blazed through new territory for Prefuse 73. "I thought the repetitive and unique timing of the song would be perfect for something equally as interesting as the video," the artist tells The Creators Project.

lilfuchs' work with artists like This Will Destroy You and Flying Lotus has outfitted him with all the tools necessary to translate Prefuse 73's twisted aural stylings into visuals. "I get hung up on doing things the difficult way," he explains. "For instance, when you hear the lyrics: “can’t you see,” I knew I wanted to travel through blinking eyes. So at the end of the kids playground scene, I had to start building out the environment that would represent an eye shape gradually opening."

"Still Pretending" has been compared to the mind-melting sketches of M.C. Escher, but also has strong ties to artists like Jeff Hale, Green Guerillas, Stastny, Oscar Reutersvard, and more. We spoke to lilfuchs about sampling the greats, designing a psychelic wonderland, why he digs Prefuse 73's jams, and why he always does things the hard way.

The Creators Project: How did you and Prefuse 73 wind up working on "Still Pretending" together?

lilfuchs: Jeremy deVine (owner of Temporary Residence Ltd.) is a good friend of mine and brought us together. He saw the pairing of Guillermo’s music and my art as a good match for each other.

How did you feel when you first heard the song?

I really loved it. I thought the repetitive and unique timing of the song would be perfect for something equally as interesting as the video. I knew I wanted to do something different. Before even hearing the track, I had the idea in the back of my mind and knew his music would probably fit perfectly for it. So yeah, hearing it for the first time was pretty on point with what I had in mind already.

What is the thought process that goes into planning for your signature seamless transformations?

I get hung up on doing things the difficult way. I don’t know why that is, maybe it’s my stubborn German / Italian heritage? If I were to approach things the traditional or “normal” way like cutting or jumping around without any seamless transitional thought, then I would probably feel like I cheated myself out of a clever idea. I never want to take the normal road.

It’s an approach like each scene is passed on to the next, or an exquisite corpse-type scenario. The very last frame of a scene creates the beginning of the next scene. As for the "Still Pretending" video, it was even more important that every single frame had to be carefully matched to the previous frame or else it wouldn’t be synced. If one frame was off, then everything thing that followed would be off.

I had to think about the entire thing backwards. So as I would end a scene, I would then have to start creating the environment for the previous scene. For instance, when you hear the lyrics: “can’t you see,” I knew I wanted to travel through blinking eyes. So at the end of the kids playground scene, I had to start building out the environment that would represent an eye shape gradually opening. It was all about thinking ahead, but in reverse. It’s confusing and just thinking about it, makes my head hurt.

lilfuchs diagrams out the video for "Still Pretending." Image courtesy the artist

"Still Pretending's" neverending hallway concept seems like it takes ideas from your other videos to the next level. What new challenges did this format offer?

Mostly scary and daunting challenges considering I’ve never done anything like it. I thought: “Can I actually pull this off? Did I just sell them on an idea I can’t do?” The entire thing was done backwards in 4 passes. Pass 1: build the environments. Pass 2: color the environments. Pass 3: add the animation. And finally, pass 4: composite. I guess it’s no different than doing storyboards to animation, but if I had done it that way it would have taken three times as long to complete. I was a bit worried because I didn’t really set myself up for revisions. I knew if Guillermo or Jeremy had any hesitations or changes, it would have been disastrous because of how difficult and time consuming it would be to change anything. It definitely was a scary road to go down, and thankfully they trusted me and allowed me the creative freedom. Dream clients!

M.C. Escher is seems an obvious influence on the video—what is your relationship with his work like?

He was an influence, but not the way you’d think. I wasn’t really studying his work while doing this. But looking back, that style probably had some kind of deep visceral influence on the concept. I just wanted to create weird abstract art that would represent the parks facilities. I’ve always admired his work and any type of Op art as a kid. I still love those magic eye books and anything that would trick the eye.

What other artists inspired you while you were working on the video?

Jos De May, Richard Anuskiewicz, Oscar Reutersvard, Adam Purple and his Garden Of Eden, Jeff Hale, Green Guerillas, Stastny and of course my daughter… whose drawings/artwork always make me look at things with fresh eyes.

I read the scenery in the video comes from Prefuse 73's neighborhood in Chinatown. What was the conversation about these elements like?

Guillermo has been living in Chinatown, NY for the past several years. The first day we talked, he sent me tons of images of the park and I was blown away by how big it was. There is a ton of history there. We also talked about where he is now and his inspiration for writing the current triptych albums.

How would you describe the narrative or atmosphere you're trying to create?

There isn’t so much of a traditional narrative per se, but more of a tour guide-type scenario. If the park had a visitor center, I’d want this video to be the park screener shown at the top of every hour. You know those video rooms that we all hated as kids, but our parents insisted we sit down and watch before doing the fun stuff? I’d want this video to be that history lesson.

I used Google maps to block out the entire park. I got really fixated on trying to map out it’s accuracy and thought: if you were to enter the park from the Williamsburg Bridge traveling north to E. Houston St., these are all the things you’d hit along the way. I got a little OCD with it, but in a way, it created a script for me to follow.

What's next for you?

I don’t know exactly. I’ve got some stuff that’s pending, but nothing solid yet. I’m always looking forward to the next creative challenge. I just want to create new things that push me as an artist. I don’t want to write the same record every time.