Gvasalia’s visions of hell and high water, and his interest in artificial intelligence and deep fakes, are premonitions of moments that seem just about to happen. Both artists specialize in creating work that finds beauty in darkness.

What in Ye’s name are Demna and Kanye doing together? As it turns out, the two share a lot of aesthetic common ground-and, apparently, the same art director, Niklas Bildstein Zaar, who made the heaven and brimstone graphics that appeared in both the fall 2020 Balenciaga show and last night’s Donda event.

Meanwhile, Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia has stepped in for the creative, directing the look and feel of the listening event and its stream. Some of the new aspects of the Donda 2.0 tracklist include feature spots from The Weeknd and Kid Cudi. In the two weeks since, West has been fine-tuning not only the album, but also its visuals. The previous event had been held in the same venue on July 22. All this was streamed in real time on Apple Music in the lead-up to West’s second Donda listening party.

Throughout the day he invited Chance the Rapper and Demna Gvasalia over, parsed through merch options, tried on a Balenciaga fall 2020 jacket, and welcomed several models into the room, two in red Balenciaga robes and armor boots who sat ritualistically under lit candles, and then another with a bob and sunglasses who sat cross-legged and hunched over an iPhone. Early in the morning of August 5, 2021, Kanye West was in his bedroom at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium doing push-ups.

Stage lighting design kanyewest