HYPETRAK 專訪 Beyoncé 御用創意總監 Todd Tourso

音樂巨星閃耀的熠熠星光往往不是一人所為，打造一個天皇或天后就猶如拍攝一部電影巨製，每一個細節都需要精雕細刻。作為國際樂壇當之無愧的天后級人物，Beyoncé 憑藉與生俱來的歌唱天賦、獨領風騷的出眾舞步、以及融合 Hip-Hop 文化與高端時尚美學的穿衣風格，已成為時尚的代名詞和「樂壇現象」。從 Destiny Child 時期到推出第一張個人專輯、同時也被譽為是見證與 Jay-Z 愛情萌芽的《Dangerously in Love》，再至同名「視覺專輯」《Beyoncé》在無任何前期宣傳的情況下發布，見證與 HOV 的愛情結晶，Queen B 似乎在用藝術、音樂的方式紀錄著自己事業、生活的一路走來。無論是從專輯的視覺呈現來講，還是從其故事性來論，Bey 的每項音樂企劃都是那麼獨樹一幟；此外，Beyoncé 的每場演唱會都不失為最重磅的現場視聽盛宴，從 I Am… World 到 Mrs Carter 世界巡演，再至剛剛落下帷幕的 On the Run Tour，其現場演出重新定義了 21 世紀新舞台技術和建築舞台美術，尤其是 2013 全球巡演中所運用的舞台動態圖形互動設計與製作，將舞台移動型 LED 屏幕、燈光和舞者進行立體互動融合，更是營造出螢幕特效無處不在的魔幻體驗；與此同時，由 Riccardo Tisci、Peter Dundas、Tamara Ralph、Donatella Versace 等多位傳奇時尚設計師為其量身打造的表演服，與 Beyoncé 珠聯璧合，伴隨炫目的舞台視覺設計、音樂、舞蹈，盡情閃耀。然而，作為 Beyoncé 的御用創意總監，Todd Tourso 是成就這一切華麗、驚艷的關鍵性人物，正是他天馬行空的大膽創意和機具前瞻性的視覺呈現理念，才使一張張音樂專輯、一場場演唱會成為經典，在時尚與音樂的諾亞方舟中永恆閃耀。面對 HYPETRAK，Todd Tourso 娓娓而談與 Beyoncé 合作的一路走來，分享了無數音樂、視覺經典背後的故事世界。有興趣的朋友可以前去 HYPETRAK 瀏覽專訪完整內容。

In the past you’ve been able to spread your time and talents across a few creative outlets such as Flaunt and your own clothing line, now that you’re working so closely with an artist that’s at the status Beyoncé is are you still able to facilitate any other projects on the side?
Yes, definitely. I force myself to stay busy and take on other projects to keep the juices flowing and maintain my bearings with the rest of the world. Beyoncé’s project has been so intense though, that it definitely has caused me to re-evaluate how I spend my time off, and I’m much more choosey about the other projects I take on.

How does this experience (of working with a single artist) differ from your previous projects? How do you find your creative balance?
For me unfortunately the best work comes from being off balance. I’ve spent my career being completely overly indulgently obsessed with a project and then moving on to something else. It’s exciting for me to work with a single artist over a period of time because then I can effect their brand instead of just one project. I like being multi-disciplinary, and this is a way for me to work on show’s but also the merch and the poster…and album packaging but also the videos and the website. And hopefully bring a level of cohesion that makes the whole greater than the sum of it’s parts. I think when you start to tie all of these things together it can feel more like a movement than an album cycle.