mirror monoliths reflect arizona natural parks in owen brown's award-winning short film

ARIZONA music video by owen brown wins three clio awards

Creative director Owen Brown’s short film for the music video Moving On by the A R I Z O N A band has secured three Clio Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in the field of advertising. In the award-winning film, Brown not only showcases one of Arizona’s largest land art pieces, completed by Jim Denevan, but also introduces a collection of ephemeral mirror monoliths seamlessly integrated into the landscapes of various Arizona national parks.

Each of the three custom-made sculptures serves as a symbolic representation of a member of the music group, infusing a personal touch into the visual narrative. Moreover, the pieces allude to the wonder and mystery of the Utah Monolith—an installation that mysteriously appeared in a remote area of Red Rock back in 2020. This reference adds a layer of intrigue, forming the character and signature visuals of A R I Z O N A’s album release campaign.

the three mirror monoliths | image by Josh Chomik

owen brown’s vision and the fusion of nature and modern art

Owen Brown (find more here) started developing the project in 2022, when he began working as A R I Z O N A’s creative director across their latest album campaign. His journey began with shaping the overall design identity for the band, envisioning a fusion of Arizona landscapes and modern art. ‘Imagine a Jeff Koons balloon sculpture inside of the Grand Canyon,’ he explains. ‘To bring that world to life, we created a historic piece of land art in front of giant Arizona red rock formations with Jim Denevan, as well as built these custom-made mirrored sculptures, which we then placed inside some of Arizona’s most famous national parks.’

The main idea was to create mirror sculptures that could visually represent the band. Reflecting on the enigmatic Utah monolith reference, Brown shares, ‘Like many, I was fascinated by photos of that shimmering desert pillar. It appeared in Utah, so we wanted to make our own for Arizona.’

the columns symbolize the three band members | image by Josh Chomik

installing & Capturing Mirror Monoliths in Iconic National Parks

The design for the monoliths was conceived by Owen Brown, alongside photographers Abi Polinsky, and Josh Chomik. ‘When I’m working with artists, I always develop design motifs that appear across multiple pieces of art. For A R I Z O N A, two of our recurring elements were mirrors and triangles. That’s why the land art I designed with Jim Denevan featured hundreds of triangles cascading outwards. I even created a mirrored triangular stage to place in the center of it,’ the creative director notes. ‘Just like the land art, the monoliths are also made out of triangles,’

After crafting the sculptures, Owen Brown, Abi Polinsky, Josh Chomik, and the band, embarked on a cross-state journey, transporting the mirror monoliths in an 18-wheeler. They made strategic stops at iconic locations such as Sedona’s Cathedral Rock in Cathedral Rock National Park and The Teepees in Petrified Forest National Park for to photograph and film the pieces. To achieve this, the team had to hike into each park carrying the monoliths by hand, due to the limited access for vehicles.

‘Unlike with the Utah Monolith, we had permission to place our sculptures in each park,’ Brown says. ‘We spent months working with the National Park Service and United States Department of Agriculture to make sure the project was officially permitted.’ Once the monoliths were photographed, they were carefully removed, rendering them visible only through the lens of the camera.‘There’s no way to see them anymore in real life. Just like the Utah monolith, our Arizona monoliths now exist only in photographs,’ he mentions.