Anglais Collège

Lycée

Le «black power bling» de Beyonce

et Jay-Z dans le clip d’APES**T
Un clip vidéo de Ricky Saiz, 2018

Type d’activité : Analyse d’un clip Durée : 2 h

Lorsqu’ils ont annoncé la sortie de leur nouvel album en commun, Everything is Love, en juin 2018, les époux
Carter (Beyonce et Jay-Z) ont une fois de plus confirmé leur engagement politique, célèbre depuis leur soutien
de la politique des époux Obama en faveur des Afro-américains. Leur nouveau coup d’éclat ? Faire entrer la
culture noire là où on ne la trouve pas, à savoir au Louvre, temple mondialement reconnu (c’est le musée le plus
visité au monde) de l’art classique. Plutôt que de célébrer les artistes noirs, les Carter choisissent de s’approprier
les œuvres les plus emblématiques d’une culture dominée par les Blancs, ce qui n’a pas manqué de faire couler
beaucoup d’encre. Délire mégalomaniaque, le clip insiste aussi sur le succès financier du couple, désormais à
même de se mettre au même niveau que Napoléon et Joséphine, auto-proclamés empereurs.
Le clip, que les élèves auront forcément vu, ne manquera pas de susciter leur intérêt. Ce sera l’occasion de tra-
vailler l’art pictural autrement, de réfléchir à sa valeur (artistique ou financière) et de mesurer sa portée politique
(ce que l’on peut montrer vs. ce qui restait caché). Quoi qu’on en pense, le clip des Carter nous pousse à réfléchir
à la beauté et à sa place dans notre société.

Dans les programmes

Niveau Dans les programmes Compétences

Cycle 4 Languages

La création et le rapport aux arts Compréhension orale

Seconde
Le passé dans le présent Recherches en ligne
Identités et échanges Expression orale
Première Art et pouvoir
Diversité et inclusion
 Fiche élèves

APES**T L’histoire
Beyonce and Jay-Z, aka The Carters, created quite a buzz when they
Un film de : Ricky Saiz released this music video showing them at the Louvre museum in Paris.
Genre : Clip vidéo Some called it an insult, others a tribute to the works of art exhibited.
In their traditional bling style, the power couple decided to commit once
Année : 2018 again to the black cause, referring explicitly to the NFL scandal and intro-
ducing black artists in a museum dominated by white culture and references.

I - Watch the video

Location Performers Movement Colours

II - Take a look at the lyrics

1 / Comment on the language used in this song. Is it common practice?
2 / Comment on the title of the song. What does it mean in American slang?
3 / Pick all the references to money and expensive products in the song. Why are they mentioned?
4 / Comment on the following lyrics:
I can’t believe we made it (this is what we made, made)
This is what we’re thankful (this is what we thank, thank)
I can’t believe we made it (this a different angle)
Have you ever seen the crowd goin’ apeshit?

III - Find the references

1 / Black power
Read this online article by Bryan Armen
Graham and Martin Pengelly and explain
the symbolic act of kneeling in Apes**t.

I said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don’t need you
Every night we in the end zone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too
 Fiche élèves

2 / The works of art

There are 18 famous works of art from the Louvre shown in the Apes**t video. Let’s focus on 6 particularly mea-
ningful of them. For each painting, find information about it and try to guess why it was chosen to star in the video.

Information about the work of art Why the Carters chose it

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Venus of Milo

Théodore Géricault,
Raft of the Medusa

Jacques-Louis David,
The Coronation of Napoleon

Marie-Guillemine Benoist,
Portrait of a Black Woman

IV -Debate
1 / This video has created quite a scandal when it was released in June 2018.
What do you think of the Louvre museum as a location for The Carters’ video? Is it a good thing or a bad thing
a) for The Carters b) for the museum c) for black people? Where else could it have been shot?
2 / What do you think is The Carters’ message?
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I- Location Performers Movement Colours

Le Louvre, Paris The Carters / 2 types of dancing: slow sexy mo- Faded / mute colours of the Mona Lisa
(inside and out- Quavo ves (R&B classic) vs. nervous shakes vs. bling bright colours of The Carters’
side) Black dancers (going apeshit) outfits
In front of fa- (women with Pause in the middle of the video: Ceiling of the museum lit like a nightclub
mous works of Beyonce, men people freeze like statues (changing neon colours)
art / the glass with Jay-Z) Camera moves to highlight the Flashy colours vs. pale colours = modern
pyramid A black couple emptiness of the museum (the Car- vs. old >> appropriation, modernization
ters can afford to have the Louvre Black performers vs. white models
to themselves)
II - 1 / Classic R&B / rap use of slang and references to luxury items / drugs / sex and alcohol.
2/ To go apeshit = to go crazy
3/ check, debt, expensive fabrics / habits, jet, spaceship, motorcade, plane, jewelry, diamonds = > they “made it”
4/ The Carters succeeded although they are black. Now all black people (the crowd) will be willing to follow them.

III - Information about the work of art Why the Carters chose it
Leonardo da Vinci, Painted between 1503 and 1519, when LDC Most famous work of art in the whole world.
Mona Lisa was living in Florence. Commissioned portrait They put themselves on the same level as
of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of wealthy Floren- her: they claim they are as iconic and valu-
tine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo. able as her as artists.
Winged Victory of Hellenistic sculpture of Nike (the Greek god- Black women may fill in the gap / the canons
Samothrace dess of victory), created about the 2nd century of classic art are challenged.
before our era, found on the Greek island of Symbol of the Carters’ victory, since they’ve
Samothrace. The head has never been found. “made it” to the top, and want to bring their
fellow African Americans along, imposing
their presence and beauty in an art world
dominated by white artists and models.
Venus of Milo Ancient Greek statue found on the Grreek Invitation to change the (classic, white)
island of Milos and attributed to the sculptor codes of beauty: Beyonce is a modern black
Alexandros of Antioch. Venus with curves.
Théodore Géricault, Painted in 1818–19 by French Romantic paint- The black man on the raft symbolizes hope
Raft of the Medusa er and lithographer Théodore Géricault. De- of rescue.
picts the wreck of the French naval frigate
Méduse, on 2 July 1816
Jacques-Louis David, Painted in 1807 by Jacques-Louis David, the They align with Napoleon and Josephine
The Coronation of official painter of Napoleon. Depicts the coro- crowning themselves: they are the emperor
Napoleon nation of Napoleon I at Notre-Dame de Paris. and empress of pop.
M.-G. Benoist, Painted in 1800, 6 years after abolition of Will to portray black women not just as
Portrait of a Black slavery. Symbol for women’s emancipation slaves but exactly like white ladies.
Woman and black people’s rights.
IV - 1 / They could have shot their video in a museum celebrating African culture and beauty, but they wanted to
shock.
2 / For the Carters, “making it” means becoming rich and famous. Their American dream may be bling, but it also
conveys a political message: African Americans can make it too, and they are ready to change the canons of art and
beauty defined long ago by a white-dominated society. Money is here seen as the key to freedom and black power
(capitalist perspective) because it allows you to defy white supremacists.

Pour aller plus loin

Une analyse vidéo du clip, en anglais
Une photo de la Joconde par Martin Parr qui contraste fortement avec le clip

Crédits : © Zérodeconduite, 2019 / Auteure : Aurélie Duchaussoy / Directrice de collection : Anaïs Clerc-Bedouet