Think of a slice of pizza. On its own, it's pizza. But it's also part of a pizza. Now think of a whole pizza. On its own, it's pizza. But it can also be made up of multiple slices of pizza. That's my uber-simplified definition of a whole-part or part-whole relationship. In classification theory, this is the relationship between a thing and its parts, the way an entrance, a nave, a sacristy, and a steeple are considered parts of a church (incidentally, they each have their own unique call numbers in the DDC!). The formal definition of this type of bibliographic relationship is that of a "bibliographic entity and a component part of the entity," the way a series of books make up an anthology.
The series I've chosen that I like to think is a good example of a part-whole relationship music video-wise, is also a great example of a sequential, or chronological relationship. This type of bibliographic relationship is pretty self-explanatory; essentially it's the relationship between units that "continue or precede one another," the way issues in a particular journal follow one after the other.
Anyway, two birds with one stone: in sequential order, here are three official music videos released by Silk Sonic, a band formed by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, from their album of the same name.
Leave the Door Open - Silk Sonic (2021)
Absolute chef's kiss. The cheesemax! I cannot count how many times I replayed this thing when it first came out. Silk Sonic blew the doors wide open with an instant classic. It's a groovy 70's quiet storm, and it successfully set the tone for the entire album - audiences knew what they were getting from the first. Mars tends to adapt a specific persona for each album he releases and this is not his first time at the retro rodeo (see Treasure). For this project, Mars and .Paak chose to plumb the R&B/Soul/Funk/Disco well of the 1970s sonically, as well as visually. Note the retro visual elements: sepia/mustard overtones, vintage clothing, the intimate studio setting with retro furnishings, the disco ball effect, even the instruments look perfectly antique.
Skate - Silk Sonic (2021)
In Skate, the second release from the album, the band takes the vibe outdoors. Sonically it still hits that funky 70's R&B sweet spot. The stylistic aesthetics also appear here - the period-specific roller skates are a particular highlight. Between you and me, the first single came on so strong, Skate almost seems to pale in comparison.
Smokin Out the Window - Silk Sonic (2021)
When these guys commit to a bit, they really commit to a bit. Visually, Smokin Out the Window - the third and last music video released by the band - is by far my favourite of the trilogy. It's a witty, humorous, very loving send up of the genre they're venerating: smoking indoors, old school velvet tuxedos, exposed chesticles + gold chains, synchronized mic choreo, the throwback to 70's variety shows, that superimposed video of .Paak singing the bridge ... 10/10, would buy.
The consistency of these music videos from beginning to end shows how much they are a part of the Silk Sonic album (part-whole), and of course they were released one after the other (sequential) make this series, in my opinion, a example of the aforementioned bibliographic relationships, even if they are music videos, and not books. You could probably argue that a music video (as the visual representation of a song from an album) is always going to be part of a part-whole relationship, and that it doesn't need to reflect the same stylistic themes, and I would agree with you. That's the thing about bibliographic relationships - there's many ways to interpret them, and figuring out how things are related is all part of the fun.
REFERENCES
Mayhew, A. (2023). Week 3 [Unpublished course slides]. LIS 9201. Western University.
Tillett, B.B.. (2004). Bibliographic relationships. In Bean, C.A., & Green, R. (Eds.,) Relationships in the organization of knowledge. Libraries Unlimited.
Comments