We all need to protect ourselves – from nature’s wild elements, from our own turbulent hearts. This is the central theme to “Why We Build Houses,” taken from Orillia, Ontario songwriter Ian North‘s recent album, Everything is Incomplete.

The introspective and harmonic ‘fallen angel folk rock’ tune was sparked by a conversation with a friend where the song’s title struck North as a universal truth. “It’s a poem about fragility and the reference to a physical house is a metaphor for emotional and spiritual protection or self-preservation as well,” North explains.

The video was filmed on and around his forest property in Muskoka, featuring a concept that echoes the delicacy at the song’s core. “The waterfalls symbolize the turbulence of life and our own hearts,” North details. “The song starts with the image of ‘When the wind blows, it blows everywhere, through the town, takes the leaves and the lawn chairs.’ We wanted to shoot the film in the outdoors and highlight the beauty that comes from understanding ‘how small is life.'”

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

The video was shot in and around our property in Muskoka and along the Black River in Vankoughnet, near Bracebridge Ontario. It was shot on an iPhone and edited by my wife, Jennifer Claveau, with additional editing and treatment by Chris Gartner, the producer. Jennifer is a visual artist and musician who has collaborated musically with me in the past. She was inspired by the music and decided to take this project on as an interpretation of the song.

2. What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

Jennifer Claveau, who shot the video, says:

The video direction was led by the poetry, the music and the lyrics of the song. We chose this song for visual representation because I had a strong vision for the shooting of the video after listening to it. I also have to acknowledge that we had the privilege of access to such beautiful land and surroundings. I wanted to honour our place and time through this video. We made it while I was in the final phase my art history degree at York University, and I’m now working on a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies. I am an environmental artist and I love to bring my creative interests together to combine visual art, music and science. Observation, documentation and analysis of hidden angles and patterns in nature is a large part of my artistic practice. This video represents a snapshot in time for Ian musically and for me artistically. It marks a turning point of artistic synthesis for me in applying my music and visual art experience while using technology and learning new video-making skills.  I’m quite happy with the end result and grateful to have had the chance to capture such a beautiful and personal moment in time.

3. What was the process of making this video?

Jennifer Claveau:

“I wanted to capture the expansive wilderness as a backdrop to the music. Living in the forest, we experienced firsthand a juxtaposition between the beauty and the danger of the wilderness. In certain frames around the waterfall, I played with the focus to give a sense of emotion through attention to those things in focus, in line with the lyrics and the mood of the music. I interpret the song as an ode to the environment and paying our respect to the natural order of things through poetry. The song is ultimately about human experience but it’s actually bringing the non-human and wild aspect into conversation with how humans live on the planet. I wanted to break down the barriers visually between humans and non-humans, taking a less human-centric view of the landscape. At times, I positioned Ian as a tiny part of the landscape, or blurred planes of vision between the viewer, the singer and nature, bringing the empty stool into focus, symbolizing the emptiness and presence of an in indoor object out of place sitting in the outdoors. It’s a bit strange and out of place to come across an empty stool in the woods, out in nature. It is a message that lands differently on different species. It could be a place of shelter for insects, it could be used as a barrier, it could be a place to sit after a long walk, it’s a symbol or sign that we are not alone and there is comfort or disturbance in that, depending on your view. Taking the indoors outside is a way of understanding how all living creatures are grappling with protection from the elements. In many ways, we are similar to the wild creatures and I hoped to break down the barriers between humans and nonhumans through visual vignettes.