The Great Oxidation Event, Part 1

sugar sk*-*lls and Coupler have been collaborating for, roughly, 25 years. Ben Marcantel and Ryan Norris met in college around 2000 and found a shared interest in electronic music; particularly within the experimental and ambient realms. They have worked together on a number of projects over the decades and just recently announced a new one! The Great Oxidation Event is a conceptual piece that manifests in three parts. To really comprehend the idea behind it all, it's worth explaining what that title is referring to...

“The Great Oxidation Event” was an environmental event caused by the development of early unicellular life releasing a mass amount of oxygen into the atmosphere and oceans, killing nearly everything but, eventually, resulting in life as we know it.

The three movements they have created, loosely, represent the stages of early life evolving, the planetary destruction and eventual oxygenic rebirth. For Part 1, Marcantel created this video - a fascinating hybrid of oceanic videos processed through code and effects. There's a metaphor for their electronic work in there somewhere but I'll let you jumble that one around on your own.

In 2025, a 9 minute music video may be asking too much of your time but this is one worth immersing yourself in. The visuals are beautiful and the journey is anxious. Turn off the lights and put this on your biggest screen.

Throughout the video a cellular visual will appear and I can not get them out of my head. Below is an example - I just love them so much.