On Sunday 14th December during The UK X Factor Final on ITV, Viktoria Modesta, a truly alternative pop artist was introduced to the nation. Launching as part of the Channel 4 brand campaign, ‘Born Risky’ and commissioned by C4 Creative, the Saam Farahmand conceived, written and directed promo for the song ‘Prototype’ was premiered to an estimated 10 million viewers. 

Released online on Friday, the film had tallied up in excess of 6m hits on Victoria’s Facebook page without any press in two days. A tally that’s now risen to 8.5m and climbing fast. 

The promo presents Viktoria, every inch a new contemporary artist but with a difference that sets her apart from the idealised form of a pop artist - a prosthetic limb. Saam has created an amazing visual platform for Viktoria to express some of her more extreme ideas and continue in her fight against being categorised. 

Saam Farahmand says: “Through this video, pop culture had to engage the physical reality of amputation as a poetic concept rather than a medical procedure. The video had to create an unapologetic and less ‘morality-riddled’ forum for someone like Viktoria to exist in the mainstream. Like Viktoria, it bores me that the only way an amputee can be relevant is to achieve something that people easily understand. Culture currently dictates that we view disability from a position of wholesome admiration and empathy. This video challenges that convention”.