THE MASSES

The recent issue of the London publication Specialten: The Broadcast of Contemporary Culture honors Matt Amato’s video for Bon Iver’s “Wolves Parts 1& 2″ with a feature and photo spread. The elegant, hard-bound art book and DVD features work by Bruce Weber, Yayoi Kusama, Richard McGuire, Charles Burns, Claire de Rouen, and others, and includes Amato’s video on the DVD. The stills that accompany the piece, taken from the video, show Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon at his parents’ home outside of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, chopping wood in the frozen winter, his breath visible, the sun and fire spreading a dose of warmth over the chill. Writes Amato in an accompanying note: “When I first heard Bon Iver’s record, I immediately wrote a treatment for a song that I liked, ‘The Wolves Act 1 & 2.’ The label was taking submissions for ‘Skinny Love,’ but I wrote on ‘Wolves’ because it was so unique — it was like a prayer.’