Porter Robinson & Madeon's "Shelter" is an Actual Work of Art.

     Just over a week ago, I tweeted out that I thought my love and appreciation for pop music was an often overlooked -- or perhaps simply an understated -- part of who I am. [1]
     That type of over-emotional statement is what Twitter runs off of, but I meant it. I didn't care elaborate on what that meant (partially because no one inquired, which is fine; I tweet too much anyway). I felt it was a statement worth figuring out.

The picture sources will be very obvious, if not already, later in the post. 

     I think we find ourselves overexcited for art. Our culture (generation) is often criticized for needing constant meaningful stimulation, and I share that sentiment. It seems like every conversation I have with my peers manifests itself as this over-dramatic flood of expression, and it stems from this need for everything to be validated, and to prove its "meaning," whatever that may mean.
     That's a hard concept to explain, but what it comes down to is this: Sometimes, we enjoy something simply because it's enjoyable, and it needs no further validation. 
     This is why I love pop music -- to an extent. Pop is shallow and fun. It doesn't get unnecessarily caught up in being complex and innovative! 

     Perhaps I'm off topic.

     Porter Robinson released a music video today for a song that I've really liked for a while now. When I first saw it, I thought little of it. "It's just an A-EDM (Anime Electronic Dance Music) song, the video is probably just some stills of cute anime girls," were my thoughts at most. 

     I write this now firmly believing it's one of the most artistic works I've experienced this year. 

What is Art?
and
The Music Video for Shelter

Before we go any further, I hope you watch this video: 

     Art is frequently summed, using this vocabulary or other, as "expression incarnate," and that's a great starting point. One of art's greatest drawing point (no pun intended) is that it's relatable. It's notorious for stirring emotions and "making you feel."
     I think it's a mistake to stop there, though, because I believe that art doesn't have to be emotional; this is where I butt heads with many of my peers, but I feel I have a sound argument, and it's incredibly relevant to this topic. 

     Michael Jackson's Thriller is iconic; there's no worming around that. It's widely believed to be the first song to tell a story with its music video -- but it wasn't an emotional story.
     If you're going to argue with me that "portraying fear is literally an emotional angle," then I think you're missing the point.
     Thriller doesn't make people sad, or lonely, or feel romantic, and it doesn't make you reminisce for anything other than the time when it was released. The King of Pop made a royal pop song, and it was perfect--
only it wasn't.

     --because art isn't perfect, and I think that's more important than emotional weight. That may be cheating, however, since I think that relating through emotions is in-and-of-itself relating to human imperfection. 
     Of course, I wasn't alive when Thriller was released, and by the time I was brought into this world it was already iconic. However, I can pretty safely assume that when its music video was released, there were a great many people who didn't understand it, and didn't feel so fond of it -- who rejected it and said that "It wasn't what music was about." That's only natural.

Credit: Michael Jackson's Thriller
We'll be bringing it up again later.

     I could go on and on with this point, but It'll get messy. Instead, let's move forward.

     Shelter has had similar woes on its release date. It's loosely categorized as an EDM (again, Electronic Dance Music) song, but when you get to specifics, it gets a little muddy. 
     I'm ready to, and already do, call it A-EDM. Other people might be more literal with their categorization, calling it "chill" or "electronica", but even that comes down to a degree of subjectivity. However, despite this specific woe and how head-scratching it can become, I think it was overshadowed by an even bigger problem.

     r/Anime, a subreddit (or specialized forum) on reddit, didn't believe that Shelter was considered consistent enough with what its population defined as "anime" to be allowed on the subreddit. The decision was ultimately made to remove the post linking to the video, despite the fact that it held 98% upvotes (essentially a 98% approval rating) with enough votes to be automatically placed on the front page. Their reasoning was, though debatable, technically and objectively sound.
     There was a bit of an outcry. Much like thriller, this seems to be a piece of art that expands over, not excludes itself from, multiple art forms. Simply because we can't cleanly categorize it as one thing or another does not invalidate its quality, and an overwhelmingly large amount of Shelter's intended audience would be found on r/anime -- almost exclusively.
     I'd like to say this though: I do not believe the moderators of r/anime were in the wrong to remove the post initially. They found themselves faced with a decision that could become divisive in the future, and it's their job to keep the community forum operating smoothly. With anything that pushes boundaries, it's won't always fit in everywhere. Let it also be said, however, that I am incredibly glad that they allowed it to eventually stay. 

     I think that everyone knows these things define art, but I also think that they're hard things to see in the moment. This is a unique situation where we're realizing the implications of this work while it's actually taking shape.

     Alright, time to put an end to the ambiguous praising. Let's get to the real stuff.

A Dissection of Shelter

  

     There's nowhere more obvious to start at than with the song itself.

Music
     It's a good song! As I've said earlier, I've been listening to the song for quite a while. I frequently request in during song request days on The Fence, and it's got its spot on my AEDM playlist. 

      That in no way means that you will like it, of course. It's got all of the qualities of EDM that people who don't like the genre... well, won't like. It's a bit repetitive, and there aren't a lot of lyrics for example. 
     I think the song is very pretty, though. I like the movement from section to section, though it may be low energy a lot of the time. It also has a basic structure, so you prog-snobs (I mean that as a meme, not as an insult, I promise!) are going to have plenty to complain about! Again, drawing a comparison to Thriller, if you don't like the type of music, I doubt this will be a miraculous exception, but it executes its art well.

The Video & The Story
     Initially, I wanted to separate these sections, but I'm starting to think you can't talk about one without the other. Again, I really hope you watch the video (I even embedded it above for you!) before you read this; I don't want to spoil it!

     "Shelter tells the story of Rin, a 17-year-old girl who lives her life inside of a futuristic simulation completely by herself in infinite, beautiful loneliness. Each day, Rin awakens in virtual reality and uses a tablet which controls the simulation to create a new, different, beautiful world for herself. Until one day, everything changes, and Rin comes to learn the true origins behind her life inside a simulation." - Porter Robinson, original story.

     The story is so beautifully told that I'm having trouble completely conveying it. I think I'm going to do it backward, start with the reveal.

     Essentially, Rin is living in a simulation via a machine constructed by her father in a space capsule. He created this device in order to guarantee a quality of life for his daughter far surpassing the one she would face in the wake of the impending fate their home would soon suffer... though this part's a bit hazy.

     Throughout the video, we see Rin's father constantly updating himself on what's happening to Tokyo, and it's incredibly bleak. However, wherever he and Rin are is nowhere near as catastrophic. They're seen going to outdoor festival and parks, though these scenes are admittedly small, and they seem to be the only one everywhere they go. Perhaps they're simulations running the prototype of the technology that will eventually be used in Rin's space pod?

     Edit: After giving my brain a little rest, I think I've decided what I want to believe here. Since we already know that the exact instance we're viewing is a simulated re-telling of her or her father's memories, it's pretty easy to conceive that they're "touched-up" memories -- think "nostalgia glasses." Perhaps at that point in time, there were crowds, and the scenes possible weren't as clean as they're presented to us. But these are cherished, positive memories. In other words, it's not so important that the memories are correct, but it's how they're remembered.

     Whatever the case, they're not in an Earth in the same state ours is now. In the simulated scene where Rin views her pod's departure from her father's (3rd person) perspective, there's a gigantic planet/moon/satelite in view, pretty obviously falling into the Earth. This is probably what's causing the destruction around Tokyo, and it's possible that the disaster area simply hasn't spread to them yet.
     Regardless, that's a technicality that's not so important. 
     Before the reveal, Rin is our protagonist, and she seems to have no recollection of these events taking place, and the reason I gather is incredibly tragic.

     Rin, at the beginning of the video says, "After some time, I stopped thinking about that. Maybe I forgot how to think at all." What could be inferred from this is that Rin has, possibly consciously, blocked out these painful memories of leaving her father, who showed his incredible love in saving her. She chose to live in fabricated ignorance, and by choosing to ignore these thoughts and heartache as they show up, she eventually forgot about them altogether -- her naivete eventually causing forgotten memories.
     "But I'm not lonely. It doesn't bother me at all," is probably the lie she tells herself that she eventually came to believe.
     After that is established (though I don't believe it can be without knowing the

Who says you can't have
flower pedals underwater?

ending, but I digress) the song starts and the story starts playing out; Rin starts creating her simulated worlds.
     The first time we get a real look at what the narrative is leading us toward is when a part of the world that Rin did not create appears in a world otherwise created completely by herself, That item, of course, is the swing set. 

     The animation up until this point is great in a lot of ways. Because the story is so short, Toshihumi Akai (the storyboard animation director) is allowed to create scenes and settings that don't have to be explained. The video starts with Rin submerged in water (though that can be easily explained by it being a dream). The immediate cuts between the water, Rin's bedroom, the pure white, blank simulation walls, the rocky pillars with blue skies, icy cliffs --
     In the first two minutes of the video, so many settings are explored, and in spite of the fact that they may not be completely original[ly inspired] locations, they create such a beautiful contrast between each other. 

     The way simulated matter is created and adjusted is extremely playful as well. It's all incredibly fun to watch, and it's a joy to experience. You can begin to understand how Rin was able to allow herself to be happy despite the incredibly relevant tragedy. I was smiling throughout this entire segment, even the second, third and fourth times watching the video. 
      And the colors, oh goodness the colors! I can't speak highly enough of their use. Everything is cool when the tinge of loneliness is present, or when things aren't satisfactory; it's all warm when Rin feels cozy, and it makes us feel cozy. It strikes an incredible balance at every turn, and conveys every emotion we're led to feel, from an adventurous playfulness to a stinging depression. 
     Side note: I think this will become yet another example people refer to when claiming how to correctly use CGI in anime. I love it. 

     I also really like Rin's character design.
    

Rin, and warm colors vs. cool colors

     This adventure eventually (it's a fulfilling 2 minutes!) lead us to the catalyst, again, the swing set. Without using words, it's so excellently conveyed that it's unusual that something Rin didn't create showed up -- heck, it's impressive that we can even tell she didn't create it!
     The chorus is in the latter half at this point, and Rin is forced to view some memories of her father, though initially it's not a stretch to say we won't know exactly who he is. As the music falters out, Rin is left lying on her bed, abandoning the simulation, obviously sombered. 

     A lot of the rest of this section -- between the swing set scene and the uncontrolled simulation (effectively the second verse) is more of driving the same point home. Through even more beautiful animation and noteworthy directing, Rin is obviously dealing with the [re]emergence of these feelings she's trying to escape. 

Seriously, this whole section looks like a "best of Pixiv" album, only animated. I particularly like the bit that's mostly black & white with blips of red, and Rin's portrayal there is just icing on the cake.

     Anyway, things start happening out of Rin's control, and I think it becomes pretty obvious that she's being subjected to someone else's simulation. I'm torn on what I want to believe here:
     A. in line with my theories up to this point, Rin's father scheduled this program to run, expecting Rin to be having trouble coping with her situation. The simulations are his memories of them together, reenacting everything that happened up to until he sent her away. 

     B. Rin's mind is forcing her to remember the events. This could be for any number of reasons, but the romantic in me says that she understands that it would be a remarkably terrible thing to ignore the sacrifices her father made for her. 

     I really like the idea that B. is the case; that her falling is symbolic to how even in this world completely encapsulated by her mind, she can't control everything. 

     I definitely get a heavy heart at this point; kids get to me. 
     Seeing Rin wordlessly, hopelessly calling out to her father hurts to watch, as well. The desperation is almost tangible.

     But I love how the video ends. In stark contrast to the insanely imaginative scenery that monopolized the beginning and most of the middle, the place Rin finds herself is incredibly plain. It's bleak, but somehow, that quickly becomes a non-factor to the setting. Rin, through the tears and sadness, comes to terms that the memories are a part of who she should be. This previously overwhelming sadness somehow becomes easily acceptable -- right in line with the movement of the song.

     "Even when I realize my loneliness and am about to lose all hope, those memories make me stronger."

     Just as complex as that thought it, the scene reflects it. It opens up to a vibrant, grassy field. It's not glamorous, but it's nice. Rin breaks down to tears in the middle of it, but it's somehow comforting. It's emotional, but it's raw, and not completely one thing or the other.

I better stop here.

Is There Even Anything to Conclude?

     I dunno. It's a good video. 

     Shelter by Porter Robinson & Madeon did in 6 minutes what many full-length films and series fail to do. I am absolutely confident in calling it a work of art, and one of the best pieces of art to come out of 2016. It thrives in its mediums' strengths, and reminds you how you can love the shortcomings of it's methods. It's strangely human, but all the same fabricated and unrealistic. 

     The song itself was good enough to me to make it onto a playlist I frequently played, but it always seemed just good enough. I do think this is incredibly important though. Many people believe this is how anime will have to adapt in order to thrive -- I'm in no position to evaluate that point, but many people will use this work to push that agenda one way or the other.

     Congratulations, Porter Robinson, Madeon, A-1 Pictures and Crunchyroll. You made a masterpiece. 

All uncredited pictures are property of Porter Robinson, Madeon, A-1 Pictures and Crunchyroll.
Additional credits here.