Virtual Volte-Face

Andy Warhol had Marilyn Monroe. Jean-Luc Godard had Anna Karina. For animator David O’Reilly, Lady Gaga is the icon he can’t resist, and one whose face he took great pleasure in exploding, distorting and anatomizing for his psychedelic series “Lady Gaga: Geotrashing.” Berlin-based O’Reilly has had a longstanding love affair with glitchy digital imagery––his past work includes pixelated neon visuals for MIA’s live shows, a video for U2’s “I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight,” and animated imagery for the 2007 film Son of Rambow. His Gaga tribute was achieved, he says, “by tying the mouse cord to a kite and flying it out the window.” (We presume he’s talking metaphorically here.) What is it about Gaga? “I like her for the same reason I like 3D––it ends up being more truthful by being more fake.” A man after Gaga’s own heart.