Björk Zine

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

2008-11-21T23:01:00.000-08:00

I couldn't find a new photo of Björk that I liked enough to do my usual photoshop treatment in honor of her 43rd birthday, but this short vid on YouTube seems perfect.

It is described as "Björk and crowd singing Happy Birthday in Icelandic to Sylvia at Náttúra - Nature Awareness Concert in Reykjavik, Iceland, June 28 2008."

It was the birthday of a singer in her touring group, but what better way to commemorate her b-day than hearing her sing "Happy Birthday" in Icelandic?

Bjork Zine's Third Anniversary

2008-07-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

When Björk Zine celebrated its first anniversary, the blog had a little over 600 hits to its credit. Moving into its fourth year, the site has garnered a little over 11,000 hits. Like most blogs, Björk Zine is a one-person enterprise, so I’m not always able to add new entries. I have more Björk-inspired tattoos to post, for example, and promise to do that soon.

I have a lot of fun creating the “anniversary covers.” I didn’t do a second anniversary entry, so I was inspired to fill the gap and create the missing cover using one of my favorite photos of Björk.

An anniversary, however, calls for something more than a special cover. Since I strive to make Björk Zine a blog that reads like a magazine, I went searching for an interview that was a little offbeat. I normally hate articles written by writers who feel compelled to feature themselves in the story. Typically the writers will moan about the hassle of getting to the subject’s home, or the amount of time they had to wait for the subject to arrive, or the mood the subject is in and how it makes them feel. The article isn’t about them, but they manage to assume center stage as though to say, “I’m meeting this famous person and you’re not and what a pain it was even though it was ultimately worth it.”

What follows is one of those articles. So why do I feature it? Well, beneath the obnoxious descriptions that seem intent upon casting Björk in a less than charming light, moments of revelation shine through, and at a certain point, Björk gets her revenge when she grows weary of the writer’s insipid questions. At the same time, the conversation touches on things I haven’t heard Björk talk about before. Despite the insufferable sections, it all comes together in the end.

***

“I didn't like being a celebrity. It's a service job. Like washing toilets.”

A child star, quirky as her music, Björk has spent 30 eccentric years making records. She tells Polly Vernon about egg-laying, a fearless love life and binge drinking

Sunday July 8, 2007
The Observer

Björk ambles around the chintzy suite of a west London hotel, smearing moisturizer into her face in an inexpert manner. She paws at her cheeks and her forehead, she rubs her upper eyelids aggressively, she drags at her skin. She's wearing a long, embroidered caftan over metallic-silver leggings, a look she's accessorized with a long necklace, which seems to be made of discarded Barbie-doll limbs. A pair of cracked-silver Vivienne Westwood dolly shoes lie a little to one side; Björk is barefoot. The overall effect is deranged - but cool, and not un-chic.

She's tired, she says; her skin's tired, which is why she's slapping on the cream. She flew into the country from New York a day or so earlier. 'But I'm good. I'm OK,' she says, in her peculiar accent, which is one-part comic cockney ('innit!... What you call it? Speaking for meself...'), one-part drawling American rhetoric ('I got, what you call it? Creative control...'), and one-part Icelandic (she says 'my dotter' instead of 'my daughter', and rolls and rasps her Rs). Her excited inflections and unpredictable conversational segues make her sound like a 12-year-old boy. 'I been talking all day, so I'm a bit fried. I will try to squeeze it out though, but I am a bit... you know... woo-hoo!' she says. I laugh; she looks back at me, earnestly.

I didn't expect Björk to be eccentric in the flesh, although oddness is an integral part of her public persona, of course. Björk's been making records for 30 years; she's been an internationally recognized artist for the last 21. Through all of that, her relentless eccentricity has been her celebrity shtick. Oddness, kookiness and quirkiness have been as much a part of Björk's brand as her off-kilter, jarring, powerful sound. Björk, who wore a swan costume up the red carpet at the Oscars in 2001. Björk, who sewed pearls into her own skin for the video to 2001's 'Pagan Poetry'. Björk, who battered a television reporter at Don Muang airport in Bangkok, when she tried to talk to her son Sindri, then 10. Björk, who was rumoured to have been so unhappy while filming a role in Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark that she ate her own cardigan. Björk, who's just set Glastonbury 2007 on fire with her hugely theatrical extravaganza of a show, her outlandish headgear, her silver-sprayed forehead, her harpsichord and her crazy dancing.

Still, I'd assumed that Björk's eccentricities had been exaggerated in press coverage somewhat; or that they were an act. Even if they'd once been entirely genuine - she's now 41 years old, the mother of two children. Her boyfriend is Matthew Barney, leading light in New York's contemporary-art scene; they share a New York house once owned by Noël Coward. How eccentric can anyone with such adult credentials actually be?

Well: very, apparently. In the flesh, Björk is brilliantly odd. Her oddness is exacerbated by the accent, the styling, but also by her constant movement, her fidgety, twisty body, her gratuitous nose twitches. And then there's her logic. For example, she'll say, on the subject of her creative process: 'Music for me is like fact. Like algebra.' And she'll expect you to understand what she means.

But we're not getting on very well. We're having a bit of a row. She's objecting to one of my questions - which I thought was mild enough. I asked her at what point in her career she first felt famous; and she's reacted badly. Really badly.

'What a question!' she says. She laughs, angrily. She looks at me. No one speaks.

Then: 'That's a bit Hello! magazine, isn't it?'

Er, is it?

'Yeah,' she says. She is very frosty indeed.

We started off OK. I asked her if she wanted to talk to me about feminism, because there's some evidence of a feminist awakening in the lyrics of her latest album, Volta; and also because her press officer told me that she would. She laughed and said: 'That didn't come from me! I never had a press officer before, but I like it, actually! And I'm sure he's right. I probably should talk about feminism...'

She talked about fame instead - willingly, at first. She's endured it for a long time. Björk - born Björk Gudmundsdóttir in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1965 - recorded her first album aged 11. 'There was a radio show where everybody who did something well, did something. One did magic tricks and one did, er, what you call it? Flick flacks? And I sang. Because that is what I did. On the school bus I would sing. All the time. And some guy contacted my mum and wanted to make a lot of money and do a child record, and my mum said: "Yes." I can't even remember being asked.'

The album sold well, and Björk became a star.

Was that fun?

'No! I hated it! I didn't really like it. I think children should pick for themselves. They shouldn't be pushed. I was too young.'

Does she resent her mother for allowing it?

'Little bit. She should have known better.'

Björk, child star, refused to make a second album, and ducked out of the whole business for several years. She formed a punk band called Spit and Snot when she was 14 - 'just at school, with four girls. It was fun. I played drums' - but didn't release any more records until the mid-1980s. It was then that she gained international recognition as vocalist for the Sugarcubes, a post-punky, electro-ish Icelandic outfit, which sat well among the jangly guitars and whimsy of the UK's indie music scene. (I remember watching her prance around in the video for the 1987 hit 'Birthday', an Icelandic extravaganza of ice floes and lava and dark, soaring birds. I was wildly impressed by her unhinged impishness, and her sticky-out hair.)

She married her Sugarcubes bassist, Thor Eldon, and gave birth to their son Sindri in 1986, aged 20. Which seems incredibly young to be a mother. 'Not in Iceland! Most people have 'em when they're about 16. It's rural out there.'

Björk and Eldo split before Sindri was two - and their band split in 1992. Björk launched herself as a solo artist with the critically acclaimed dance album Debut, in 1993, aged 27. At which point, she became truly famous, on a grander scale. How was it that time around?

'Well, it was fun to try it. If you had a paper in front of you, and like, you could pick things, before birth, that you would like to try, before you fall down and die; and that was one of the bubbles: A-list celebrity, try that out for a couple of months ... you'd probably go: yes. Tick it. Just for the experience. And to be honest, I didn't really like it. It's pretty rubbish. It feels like a service job, a bit like washing toilets or something. It feels like you are somebody else's servant. But I can tick that one off, and move to, to ... to Spain, for a few months, and they forgot about me!'

Really? It was that easy to duck out?

'Yep!' she says, with absolute satisfaction. 'For me anyway!'

Then I ask her what, it transpires, is the wrong question about fame, and Björk gets mad. Maybe I should have anticipated it. In 1996, celebrity turned nasty for Björk, when Ricardo Lopez, an obsessed fan, videoed himself making and mailing an acid bomb to the singer, before committing suicide. The police intercepted the device before Björk opened it, but still; it must have been grim, and maybe my focusing on Björk's fame triggered some associations. Or maybe she's just bored.

I move on, ask questions designed to engage her as a musician. But it's too late. For 20 minutes of our precious hour together, Björk is abrupt, cold, and hard:

How does she write her songs?

'I mostly write on my own, walking, outside.'

Does she do this in London (where she still owns a house, just across the road from the hotel where we're sitting)? In New York (where she, Matthew Barney, Sindri, and four-year-old Isadora - her daughter with Barney - are based)? In Iceland (where she still spends half her time)?

'Wherever I am.'

You wake up, you get up, you go out, with writing as an end goal?

'Mmm hmmmm.'

Do you take a notebook? Or a Dictaphone? Do you write while you walk, or on park benches?

'It isn't really like that. You can't plan it.'

Then there's a long, uncomfortable pause.

I ask Björk about fashion. She's got strong associations with the industry; Alexander McQueen made her a frock for one of her videos, she's often championed the more challenging designs of people like Rei Kawakubo and Sophia Kokosolaki.

Does she love fashion?

'Not really. I don't really like it.'

I look pointedly at the Westwood shoes, and Björk relents a little.

'I like the creative angle. Where people express them-self. But I don't like it when it's too much of people being told what to do, and too much like ... fascism, of magazines telling women to starve them-self, and they obey! Or they're like "out of fashion", which is the worst crime you could ever commit! So they get executed for it, publicly! It makes women very unhappy.'

Björk's said in the past that she was surprised no one realized that the Oscar swan outfit was a joke - even though she periodically 'laid' eggs on the red carpet (at which point security guards would tap her on the arm and say: 'Excuse me ma'am. You've dropped something'). Now, she says: 'I think in Hollywood, if you don't wear black Armani, you get executed immediately. But mostly er, I'm surprised it's still a big deal. I'm surprised journalists are still talking about it.'

We don't have much imagination, I explain. Björk laughs. She warms up a little; then I spoil it all and ask: how does she reconcile motherhood, with pop stardom?

'Ha! You asking me again what it's like being famous, right?'

No! I'm asking you what it's like to have a very domesticated facet to your lifestyle, and also one that is traditionally associated with excess, high living, emotional volatility, drugs and groupies.

'Oh. Being a musician is very easy. My house is full of musical instruments. There's a lot of music, always. But... I don't really go to premieres and hang out with Puff Daddy.'

(I refrain from saying that I didn't for one moment think that she did, and that, furthermore, he's called P Diddy.)

It isn't until Björk has some room-service soup that things start to look up. She mellows considerably. 'It's my blood sugar,' she explains. 'It goes a bit ... haywire.'

I ask her some more searching questions; and she responds well. Björk's been with Matthew Barney for six years; before that, she'd had a series of relationships, some of which were high-profile. She dated UK Nineties music institutions Tricky (of Massive Attack) and Goldie, for a start. The two were supposed to have fought over her.

Does she fall in love easily?

'Erm. Hmmm.' She giggles. 'I mean, there's been many different periods in my life ... there's definitely been places where I fell really easily in love. And, erm, all the different colours ... I think I'm the sort of person who - I wouldn't play it safe. Again, if you have the ticky boxes in front of you, and you have all the different emotional feelings, to do with love ... then I think I wanted to taste all of them, at least once. I also wanted to taste rejection, I wanted to taste being heartbroken, being obsessed, I wanted to feel being superior, I wanted to feel being equal, I wanted to, erm, experience, being ecstatic, the joy, the freedom, the recklessness, the conservative side ... the domestic life ...'

And has she experienced all these things?

'All of these colours! Yeah!'

She seems fearless, romantically. Is she scared of anything?

'Yeah! Tons! Tons of stuff, but that's part of the fun, though, isn't it? And it's not like I said: OK, I decide, 17 March, I will be heartbroken ... it's not like that. And I look at my friends, and there are some people who play it safe, and they don't want to take risks.'

I'm one of those, I tell her.

'But that's not bad, either! It is also brave to keep things together. That takes guts too.'

Björk likes me in the end. We talk about shopping: 'I like it! But it really exhaust me. I get highs, to be totally honest, in second-hand shops. My hunting instinct, I expect, really kicks in.' We talk about ageing. There's something very childlike about her, there's the 12-year-old boy in her spoken inflections, and the high-voltage eccentricities. She's also got the posture of someone much younger; and the skin. But still - she is 41.

'I'm pretty comfortable with it when it comes to experience, maturity, er, wisdom; but I'd be lying if I said that it don't piss me off that I don't have the same energy I used to have when I was 20.'

Where does she stand on the ravages of time?

'Right now, I feel like I look exhausted, because I'm tired. I'm not vain, like: I want to look pretty. That's never bothered me. But if I see a photograph of me and I look tired, then I'd be more worried than if I looked ugly.'

She has a nice life; a sociable life, with her kids, her friends, and regular house parties, which she enjoys 'because you can be really picky about the music and only play what you like'. She's about to tour Volta, which she thinks will be fine because she's negotiated a month-on, month-off deal with her label, so that she can spend time with Isadora. She likes a drink.

'I don't like drinking with food, I think Iceland people are a bit old-school like that - we think if you drink with food then you're an alcoholic ... but if you drink lots, on a Friday night ...'

Then you're fine?

'Yes. I think it's called "binge drinking". I don't see the point of drinking unless you end up dancing and letting go. I actually read somewhere that, if you look over a 40-year period, it's better for your body because then you get rid of so much stress. Two glasses of wine, good for your heart? Yeah, whatever. I just wake up next day and I'm a bit like, black and white, not in colour. But lots of drink, bit of dancing, bit of slapstick... is good! Thing is, you can't do that, that often. Twice a month would be good... but I can't wait, I think, fuck it!'

Is Björk happy?

'I'm just like anybody,' she says, 'I have my ups and downs.' She kicks her bare feet out a bit. 'It's not like bliss, 24/7 or anything.' She sniffs. 'Shame about that, innit?' Then she laughs, and boots me out of her hotel room.

BJORK ZINE Magazine Cover Gallery UPDATED

2008-03-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated any of the photo galleries, but I've added about 17 new images to the Magazine Cover Gallery. It's interesting how magazines like ID and CUT lend numerous covers to Björk, as though they were edited by devoted Björk fans, like us . (I know I wouldn't need much of an excuse to place her on the cover if I edited a music magazine.) It is also a reflection of the respect Björk earns within the industry as a recording pioneer when SOUND & RECORDING Magazine follows the progress of her ever-evolving artistry in the studio.

The Great Björk Scam of 2003

2008-02-16T06:02:00.002-08:00

Some (or a lot) of you may have already heard this story, but it’s brand new to me. It involves an event that seemed almost too good to be real – “An Intimate Evening with Björk” – and in the end, was too good to be real, but not for the reasons one might think. Björk has been known to appear in small venues, but this one was different. This one had a poster produced for it by R.Black, an established illustrator of rock posters. This one was going to happen at a popular gay club in San Diego called the Flame. There was even an opening act on the bill – “the infamous” Debbie Deb. Problem was, Björk didn’t know about it. If this is news to you as it was to me, I’ve gathered various media reports to flesh out the details. And even if it’s not news to you, you’re likely to learn something you didn’t know before.

We start with this report from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

By Gregory Alan Gross
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 24, 2003

And the moral of this story is: Don't mess with Björk fans.

A man suspected of defrauding as many as 400 people of as much as $16,000 [other reports state between $9,000.00 and $14,000.00 – Björk Zine] by selling tickets to a bogus Björk concert at a North Park night spot has been arrested in Hawaii, authorities said yesterday.

But it wasn't police investigators who tracked Alejo "Alex" Conate [aka DJ Liquid Groove] to the island of Oahu.

It was the outraged fans of Björk, an internationally known singer with a fiercely devoted following in the underground dance music scene, who found him and tipped off the cops.

"We're in the process of extraditing him back," said San Diego vice Detective James Borg.

Conate is suspected of setting up a phony Web site with bogus e-mails from Björk to dupe a legitimate San Diego promoter, Bryan Pollard, and the management at The Flame into believing he could bring the iconoclastic Icelandic idol to an intimate club venue in San Diego.

He then sold realistic-looking tickets to ecstatic Björk fans at $40 apiece.

Said Borg: "I'm very anxious to have a chat with this young man."

So are prosecutors in San Luis Obispo, who have two pending warrants of their own with Conate's name on them.

So, too, is Kevin Azero who, along with several of his friends, shelled out $80 for a pair of tickets to a concert that never was.

"He's been caught . . . really? Oh my God, that's really cool!" Azero said, adding. "I hope he still has my money."

Once it was known that the Björk appearance in San Diego was a scam, both police and angry Björk fans immediately got on Conate's trail.

But it was a network of Björk fans – as well as the holders of those worthless tickets – who found him first, Borg said.

"People kind of went into an outrage over this," said Greg Horton, manager of the Off the Record music shop, who also bought a pair of the phony tickets.

They had help from Pollard's Web site, www.klubs.com, which posted a photograph of Conate on the Internet and urged anyone who had seen him to contact the site or The Flame.

"They have a communication system that rivals the CIA," Borg said.

Apparently, Conate was over in Hawaii, Borg said, boasting of his dealings as a concert promoter here.

Word got back to Pollard, who called San Diego police.

"We did find out where he was and I worked with the Honolulu Police Department Crime Stoppers," Borg said. "They did a good job."

Conate was arrested Wednesday and waived extradition, Borg said. His return to California will be coordinated through the San Luis Obispo District Attorney's Office.

*
ChartAttack.com, on June 25, 2003, reported this:

Conate will be sentenced for the crime on July 22, but San Diego authorities won’t be able to punish the trouble-maker until he answers other charges in San Luis Obispo. Authorities there have issued a warrant for a probation violation stemming from a previous elder abuse conviction.

Following sentencing, The San Diego Union-Tribune ran this update:

5:40 p.m., July 29, 2003

SAN DIEGO – A man who sold more than $9,000 worth of tickets to a non-existent concert that he claimed would feature Icelandic pop star Björk was sentenced today to five years probation and ordered to make restitution.

Alejo Miguel Conate, 25, pleaded guilty on June 23 to grand theft.

Conate will be transferred to San Luis Obispo, where he faces a probation violation in an unrelated elder abuse case, Deputy District Attorney Tricia Pummill said.

Conate convinced promoter Bryan Pollard that he was a disc jockey and could deliver Björk to the Flame bar on Park Boulevard for a Jan. 15 concert.

Tickets to the "show" were sold, and the defendant skipped town with $9,160, Pummill said.

Conate was arrested in late January in Honolulu, after authorities learned he spent about $1,900 tipping female dancers in an adult club.

Owners of the Flame have already paid back the vast majority of the ticket buyers, Pummill said.

Conate was ordered to pay $5,760 to the club and $1,960 to Pollard. The rest of the money will be held for customers who have not been reimbursed, the prosecutor said.

San Diego police Detective James Borg testified at an earlier hearing that Pollard told him that he first met Conate last November, as the defendant pulled a suitcase down a Hillcrest street.

Conate told Pollard that he worked as a DJ and knew the singer Björk, according to the detective, who said the promoter offered Conate a place to live because he was homeless.

Pollard and a bar manager got e-mails that they thought were from Björk officials and another performer confirming their scheduled appearance in San Diego, Borg said.

Conate disappeared in December with the money from the ticket sales from an unlocked metal box kept under Pollard's bed, the detective said.

Pummill said people interested in buying tickets to concerts should check a performer's Web site to see if a show is actually scheduled.

*
In early January 2003, the club Flame issued this statement:

"On behalf of myself, Mary Young, manager of The Flame in San Diego, it is with great disappointment to inform those of you who actually bought tickets that the Bjork show has been cancelled. DJ Liquid Groove, (his real name is Alex Conate from Oceanside, CA but also goes by 'Keanu Jimenez') the promoter with this event, has taken off with all of the money made from ticket sales. Yes, DJ Bryan Pollard and The Flame's names are on the flyers and the tickets, but all Bryan Pollard did was supply "Liquid Groove" with a website for promoting and the use of his clubs to sell tickets. All that The Flame did was say 'yes' to a once in a lifetime opportunity to house the most magical and inspirational woman in music (who wouldn't???). DJ Bryan Pollard had been working with "Liquid Groove" for the past couple of months and entrusted in him not only his business but his reputation. "Liquid Groove" proclaimed to have been a producer for Bjork on her Icelandic version of 'Homogenic'. He also listed off a list of other amazing artists he had collaborated with and unfortunately we believed him. He then played for us many of Bjork's songs he had mixed himself making it even more believable, as well as being a 'special guest DJ' at our club last Saturday night. Bryan Pollard, The Flame and its staff, and everyone who purchased a ticket got duped.

"The Flame and Bryan Pollard are deeply sorry for any inconvenience this has caused but please remember that we too are very disappointed.”

According to a news item about the scam on MTV.com dated 4/14/03, Conate initially claimed that “he was guilty of no such thing in court Wednesday” and “denied charges of grand theft for allegedly selling $14,000 worth of tickets to a January 15 concert that was never booked.” What’s important, however, is that he was guilty, and when faced with the facts, had to plead guilty in court. In the final analysis, Conate was just a grifter, and not a very good one, because he was caught.

An interesting comment upon the denouement of the case was made by Tommy Salami (gotta love that name!), writer for San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Times. In the issue dated 8/21/03, Salami extended “a great big bastard of a thank you to Judge William Mudd. I had the privilege of watching him convict DJ Liquid Groove (aka Keanu Jimenez, aka Alejo Conate, aka Inmate # 957-261…) of the locally famous ticket scandal involving a certain Icelandic singer with not nearly enough vowels in her name. My reason for loving Judge Mudd? This quote from the bench over the DJ with the dirty hands: “You are guilty as sin. You’ve tried to fool me, you’ve tried to fool the DA’s office and the probation office by saying you’d been duped. You’re not a dupe. You’re a dope.” I think he deserves his own show. In your face, Judge Judy!”

This is quite a story, and as I said, one that I had never heard before. Aside from the bizarre nature of this story, however, what’s with the reporter’s description of Björk as having “a fiercely devoted following in the underground dance music scene”? Underground dance music scene? Underground, in 2003? I guess he never read the piece in Entertainment Weekly that called Björk a “legend in her own time” and a “citizen of the world.

Here's a good Björk question...

2008-01-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Why hasn't there ever been a Björk calendar, for the many fans who would love to be able to track each day of each month of every year with their favorite renaissance woman from Iceland?

Wouldn't you love to have something like this hanging in your office/cubicle/kitchen/what-have-you?

Click on image for larger view:

Happy Birthday, Björk!

2007-11-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly a year since I've updated this blog. Life intervened, as they say, and my energies were focused elsewhere. But what better time and reason to return than to celebrate Björk's birthday? As she turns 42 on November 21st, she is able to look back upon an interesting and active year. It was a year in which she delivered a new album that defied expectations, made a spellbinding appearance at the Coachella Music Festival, and set upon an international tour performing awe-inspiring rearrangements of her most enduring songs.

If I can rant for a moment, however -- I saw Bjork perform at Coachella, and again about a month later at the Shoreline Pavillion in Mountain View, CA. Both shows were blow-away great. But -- what was the deal with the monitors? At both concerts, the camera work for the monitors consisted of lingering shots of a UFO tracking system (or whatever it was), hands playing keyboards, cock-eyed angles of pianos, back-up singers and horn players, with seldom a peak at the woman we'd all come to see. At Coachella, it was maddening to see Björk on stage (a fair distance away) dancing and singing and doing all the things she does, while the monitors were, instead, obsessing over hands manipulating a laptop. Certainly it wasn't the result of some kind of artistic directive that had been discussed and decided upon and signed off on by Björk, a directive that said "show everything and everyone except Björk, with little snippets of Björk spliced in at random moments just to remind people who they'd come to see." Or was it? I thought surely the monitor situation would be different at Shoreline, but no. Same thing. Big hands hovering over glowing laptops, long shots of the back-up singers, an off-kilter angle from beneath a piano bench. With little snippets of Björk, spliced in. Just to remind us.

I still don't get it, but the music was incredible, and the inspired rearrangements of virtually every song she performed made them sound almost new.

In addition to a new album and tour, she provided the voice for the starring character in an Icelandic animated short film, Anna and the Moods, and now there's the promise of an new album coming out sooner than later.

If anyone has a reason to celebrate her birthday, it's Björk. And so do we!

Bjork Zine Promo Video 2006

2006-12-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not updating the site since October 23rd, but I've been busy creating a Bjork Zine promotional video, now playing on YouTube.com.

The video was built around the structure of JC Lemay's wonderful remix of "Pagan Poetry." It may not look like it on YouTube, but the changing images are perfectly synchronized to match the changing beat and chords. If anyone is interested in an original copy of this Windows Media file, I will happily send it to anyone who asks for it via YouSendIt.com. (YouSendIt is a great free site that makes it possible to send large files. Just send an email requesting it to bjorkzine@yahoo.com)

The Proliferation of Björk's Tattoo – Part 2

2006-10-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

In the first part of this article, my research regarding the literal proliferation of Björk’s tattoo – a rune compass called a Vegvisir – led to the heart of what makes Björk so inspirationally unique and beyond. In addition to the tattoo’s connection with Björk, its origin as a Viking compass is commonly analogized as a symbol of staying on course in ones journey through life. For some, it serves as a veritable lighthouse in what would otherwise be the debilitating darkness of derailing despair.

On a site called TATTOO CONFIDENTIAL, I found an entry by someone who identifies himself simply as “Grig” and who tells how he came to acquire a Vegvisir and what it means to him. The son of an alcoholic mother and abusive father, Grig felt at 16 that he was “alone in the world,” and writes that “even though religion was banned from my house, I decided to make a pact and set my own moral standards.” Also banned from the home was “discussion about my ethnicity, which was Swedish, because my father hated all relatives, hated where his parents came from, and so on. Having a Swedish heritage was somewhat of a taboo topic. But my mother encouraged me to explore it, and secretly, I’d read about Vikings and so on in the library. My mother committed suicide when I was 18, and my father wanted to get rid of that side of his life, so I was on my own the last year of high school, living with friends, and trying to sort out my shattered dreams of going to college now that I had to work to survive. I still held onto my ethnicity and self-imposed moral codes as part of my identity.”

He discovered the Vegvisir when a friend gave him a book that described it as “a Nordic symbol made of runes used by Vikings to find their direction in conditions of bad visibility when the Polar star was not visible. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but the image was kind of in the back of mind for a long time as a direction to find my way through my foggy life. I got married to a wonderful woman, and had a son, both of whom I love very much.”

When considering a tattoo (his wife had two), he “did a lot of research, but I waffled for quite a bit, because I wanted something that ‘felt right.’ One night, while I was sick with some horrible flu, and bored to death but too weak to get up, I thought about the tattoo, and the image of the compass just went ‘pop’ in my head. I looked it up on the Internet and found out that the Icelandic singer Björk had one. I also found the Aegishjalmur (symbol for Invisibility in Battle) charm, but Björk’s seemed more artistic. I decided to ‘wait it out’ to see if it was some fad, or if people thought I got one because Björk had one.”

A year later, he “felt like it was missing” and decided to go for it. He “settled on something similar to what Björk had because there were a lot of photos available on the web, I like her poetry and music, and it was asymmetrical, like myself. I also decided to wear it on my left arm, to encourage the right side of my brain to find direction in the “left side” arts, since I am trying very hard to become a writer; my day job is a UNIX Sysadmin (system administrator), which pays the rent, but it’s so logical and structured, and I feel it might lead me astray.”

“When it was done,” he says, “it felt right, like an old friend I had lost was now back, and I felt a piece of me that had been missing for so long was home at last. I feared I’d have pangs of regret, but all I keep feeling is a sense of calm and wholeness.”

Much like Sara, the girl in Part One who found that Björk, her music and the Vegvisir helped her use her instincts to mend her life and build a brighter future, “Grig” found that the symbol helped him deal with the pain of his past and acted as a signpost toward a life of greater creativity.

An even more telling tale is that of artist Brent Berry, who, after surviving a diagnosis of cancer and the rigors of chemo therapy, found that he was unable to return to his work. “As a part of recovering I was supposed to be avoiding stress,” Berry said. “LOL, right? How can you avoid stress under such conditions? My mom had died a few years earlier from the exact same thing and my dad died from cancer just as I was finishing my chemo, so at the time I believed I had been handed a death sentence” As incapacitating as his treatment was, however, Berry survived his ordeal, only to find himself confronted with an ailment medicine couldn’t cure.

“My family and friends were great support, but inside me,” Berry said, “a big part of my true self was missing and I could not find it. The only thing I knew that would help relieve stress on a daily level was to get back to doing my art. It was the only thing I had ever been good at and I believe it's my purpose in life. I felt I needed to do my artwork now more than ever, but with everything I had been through it now seemed impossible. I was unable to find any inspiration at all! So many things I had liked before meant so much less to me. The whole world seemed different and even though it had been 6 years since the treatment, I was still suffering the after-effects of the strong chemicals I had been given – basically poison! Not only did I not feel well physically, but my mind was constantly overwhelmed with fear, uncertainty and depression. How could I ever feel inspired to do artwork again? Well, that's when the miracle happened. Yep, Björk!”

Berry doesn’t like to dwell on what he calls “the awful details,” and hates to even say the word cancer, but including it here only heightens the significance of Björk’s profound influence upon his healing process. After hearing Björk's music for the first time, he listened to it for a few days and found that he “had a lot of new energy and was restless! I love all kinds of music but no music has ever effected me like this! I thought to myself, ‘How could this music be so different than what I liked yet sound so much better?’ Her music was a breath of fresh air. For the first time in years, I felt the urge to start doing artwork again. For 6 years, I struggled to get inspired, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't get motivated. Björk and her music inspired me to start doing artwork again! It wasn't just something I wanted to do; I need to do art to be who I am and to stay alive! I was so happy to be back at it that all the first things I made were influenced by or related to Björk or her music. I've always liked Viking lore and I have a longboat tattoo on my arm to honor the Danish part of my family. I was surprised to see a Vegvisir on her arm and so a lot of my first images have variations of Vegvisirs in them." Berry's Björk-inspired art and more can be found at brentberryarts.com.

“It may sound silly to some, but it seems to me that Björk is a special gift to the world and she has some kind of unique quality that not only inspires but also heals! Her tattoo, the Vegvisir, means so much to me. It not only symbolizes the lady who inspired me do art again, it also literally is a compass to me because it she has given me direction and helped show me the way to go at a time when I really was lost!”

Björk fans are often derided for their seemingly fervent adulation of the pop star, but testaments such as these from Sara, Grig, and Brent Berry go a long way toward illuminating that which is the magic of Björk.

Next: More Vegvisirs, and other tattoos inspired by Björk...

If you have a Björk tattoo of any kind, either a Vegvisir or something inspired by her or her music, please send jpegs to bjorkzine@yahoo.com and I will feature them here on Björk Zine. Please include a few words about what inspired you to get it, what went into designing it, what it means to you, and anything else you want to say about it. Thanks!

Björk to reform Sugarcubes for one-time benefit concert in Iceland

2006-09-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

In the wake of Björk’s participation in DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 and amidst musings about the new album, a press release published on Björk.com on 9/18/06 made a rather stunning and exciting announcement:

"Nearly 20 years ago, The Sugarcubes put out on their own label Smekkleysa SM, their first single Birthday. This release was the start to the splendid career of The Sugarcubes, and impressive releases of Icelandic artists in Iceland and abroad alike. These first steps made by The Sugarcubes have made an everlasting impact and influence on the Icelandic export of music.

It is therefore with unbound joy we announce the 20th anniversary concert of Birthday and The Sugarcubes in Reykjavik on the 17th of November. The Sugarcubes will take to the stage for the first time in 14 years.

All profit from the concert, with the support of FL Group, goes back into Smekkleysa SM who will continue to work on a non-profit basis for the future betterment of Icelandic music and artists.

World domination or death! Yes thank you!"

Björk.com goes on to say:

“Regular ticket sales in Iceland will be announced very soon with the tickets going on sale through a local online site.

If you are interested to travel to Iceland to see the concert you will be able to buy a travel package from Icelandair, which will include airline ticket and the concert ticket. Hotel will be optional. All of Icelandair regional offices are putting up special pages for this reason. Please go to www.icelandair.net and choose your closest office of Icelandair.”

Excepting the prospect of once again hearing Einar drown out Björk with his vocally abusive hi-jinks, this is exciting news indeed. The cost of
traveling to Iceland will unfortunately prevent me from attending, but what better time or reason for a Björk fan to travel to Iceland? Icelandair.com adds that “The concert will take place at the new, high-tech Laugardalsholl Arena.”

Speaking of Einar, Pitchfork Media features a news item where he talks about the origin of the renuion of the Sugarcubes.

LAST CHANCE to see DRAWING RESTRAINT 9

2006-09-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you're anywhere near the San Francisco bay area, your last chance to see the DRAWING RESTRAINT exhibition at the SF Museum of Modern Art is drawing near. With the show ending on September 17th, this is the final week of an exhibit that only those lucky enough to be in Japan, Korea, and the far left side of the United States have been able to attend.

More pertinent to Björk fans, this may well be their last chance for a long time to view DRAWING RESTRAINT 9. Fanning the flames of criticism that Barney’s art is “art created for rich people,” he has said that his films will not be released on DVD. "They cannot be distributed as DVDs because they originally sold as limited-edition art objects,” Barney said. “If a sculpture is in an edition of six, you can't make more of them. It's not right for them to be available to be owned in an unlimited way after they've been sold in a limited way. I have the right to do theatrical distribution of the films, which I've done with 'CREMASTER' and ‘DRAWING RESTRAINT 9.' In Paris, they have now, for the second time, brought back the series. It's certainly a better condition to see it than on a monitor."

The film runs once a day and is free with the ticket price to the exhibition. Check the MOMA website for times (link on this page).

Letters of Comment / Request for tattoo pics

2006-08-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

We don't get many letters of comment here at Bjork Zine, so I was very gratified to find this thread on Bjorkish/Live Journal regarding the recent tattoo article.

The Proliferation of Björk's Tattoo -- Part One

2006-08-05T07:02:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

Whether or not one is a Björk fan, one of the first things you notice about her is the unique tattoo on her upper left arm. Called a Vegvisir, it is generally defined as a Runic compass; Sunnyway.com says that it "means ‘direction sign’ or ‘see the way’. This charm helps prevent one from getting lost. It is a ‘brun rune’ or sea charm.” The site goes on to say that it belongs to a family of “Viking era ‘magical staves’ (that) one might scratch or draw on the inside of one's helmet. This one can also be drawn on one's forehead with saliva or blood.” In an interview in the July 1995 issue of Rolling Stone, Björk said, “"It's so I don't get lost," she says coquettishly. "If the Vikings had bad weather or fog, they used to draw it on their foreheads with a piece of coal. I thought that was a bit much, so I put it there.”

In the encapsulated yet concise Björk saga found at Björk.com, it tells of “when Björk was 17, she and her friend Didda, the poet, decided to get a matching pair of tattoos on their left arms. They chose a 1000-year-old rune compass consisting of specific runes, ‘so that I always know where I’m going. It means I will never get lost in the fog, and I never have!’ Björk says. They went to the only tattoo parlor in Iceland and had the same thing done. ‘It was a bit of a ritual experience,’ she said. Later on she had another tattoo done; ‘A spidery design behind the ear which is a symbol I made for KUKL.’” (It looks more like a star to me, but who am I to argue with Björk.com?)

Others have been similarly inspired to get Vegvisir tattoos, but this is especially true of Bjork fans. Speaking for myself, when I was considering what to get as my first tattoo, it was suddenly so obvious that it had to be what I refer to as “the Bjork tattoo.” When people ask me what it is, I give them the “it’s a Viking compass” story, but then confess that I have it because it’s the same tattoo Bjork has, and that having it makes me feel like I have a piece of her with me wherever I go. This is not to say that I dismiss its symbolic value as a means of preventing one from getting “lost in the fog.” The fact that I have tattoos at all is to express myself and to keep me centered about my goals and maintaining the courage to carry them out.

Bjork fans are a special breed because they are drawn to her for reasons that reach beyond her music. Since childhood, Bjork has followed her own path, following her own very unique muse. And whenever people have said she was weird or strange or eccentric (which continues to this day), her attitude has always been, “If people get it, that’s great, and if they don’t, they’re missing out.” It’s this attitude of believing in oneself and not letting others define who you are that people – especially creative people – find very inspiring.

A young fan/musician named Sara is a perfect example, and her story likely exemplifies the experiences of many others.

Quite a trail of travails led to her Vegvisir tattoo, including: her parents putting her on a regimen of Paxil (“a vicious anti - depressant/anti-anxiety” medi- cation”) at the age of 15, only to be given Remeron when the depression got worse, followed by being taken to a psych ward by police when the Remeron caused her to sleep for “22 hours a day for about two weeks straight.” After spending about 8 hours in the psych ward, “being analyzed for only 2 of those hours and having to sit with a little girl who swore to me that I was sitting next to a man that clearly did not exist, they decided to ‘let me go’ and had me take the dose I was on every other day. That attempt lead me to insanity…I begged my mother to let me keep taking this medicine because I never saw myself coming off of it, given the past experiences.”

Despite always having “been the advanced student,” Sara had just turned 17 when she “decided to drop out of school…the classes I left behind included college courses such as: Calculus, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Science II, English AP…and this was my Junior year. So…dropping out of high school because of a medication that I felt like I didn't need, but DID need to live…it was devastating and I lost all hope in my once bright future. All the horrible side effects were getting the best of me. I had broken down my personality and realized I had none. My mind wanted to associate the pain with not having the drug instead of recognizing the drug was doing this to me.”

At some point during all this, she discovered Bjork when she saw her “wear the swan dress to the Oscars. I had never really heard of her, but then all the journalists and paparazzi bashing her for wearing it made me question them. I looked her up and saw all these ingenious photos and I was quick to listen to her. I bought the newest release at the time – VESPERTINE. I swallowed her voice and emotion and it stayed inside of me. I ended up building a collection of all of her songs, bought DANCER IN THE DARK, and then started looking into her philosophy on life. I saw in one video she explained the song 'Isobel.' "

Sara responded to the song’s message of acting on instinct instead of logic, which led her on a new trajectory of self-healing. “I am a very independent spirit, and I feel that with mind power and will I can over come anything really; anyone can. And if anything, this has made me stronger.”

This is where the Vegvisir comes in. “Nobody really understood how I could randomly get up, drive to a tattoo shop and get a tattoo while I was simultaneously having problems with much smaller tasks. But either way, I had to prove to myself that no matter how tough, confusing, and painful things got for me, through all of this there was a right way and I needed to see it, and live it. While getting the tattoo, I am sure it was my endorphins rushing, but I felt the best I had ever felt…even up to the last day I stopped physically withdrawing from the Paxil. About a week after getting the compass, I took the tests for my GED and ended up making almost a perfect score.”

As she continues to examine the events of her past and how best to tackle the future, she said, “I look at my Vegvisir and realize that it was the right thing to do…and I just need to keep going the right way until I am out of my "state of emergency"…which is beautiful and for now, because I am in it. It is where I want to be.”

Next: More Björk tattoos, and amazing Björk art...

Meanwhile, click the twitching Vegvisir for some letters of comment...!

Björk Zine – First Anniversary Issue!

2006-07-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

July 21^st marks the one-year anniversary of Björk Zine, which I’m proud to say has over 600 hits to its credit. Inspired by various other Björk sites – Björk.com and Björkish, in particular – my goal with Björk Zine was to create something closer to a webzine than a website. I wanted it to be more like a magazine, and what I think distinguishes Björk Zine from other Björk sites is the bounty of interesting reading material, which I hope everyone is enjoying.

Lacking the skills to build a real website, I found that the ready-made templates offered by Blogspot ideally suited my needs, making it very easy for me to focus on the content instead of the programming. With a bare-bones grasp of html, I’m able to alter the site to my desires, and the similarly ready-made photo site called Flickr allows me to include dedicated photo galleries – a must with any site of this kind. Björk Zine currently offers seven separate photo galleries with a total of 671 photos.

I’d like to remind you that the “Previous Posts” links isn’t a complete list of everything on the site, and invite you to review the “Archives” for more great stuff about Björk. It never really goes out of date.

Please bookmark Björk Zine and check back often as I’m always posting interesting items and features and adding links of interest. And please recommend the site to anyone who has even a passing interest in Björk. Believe it or not, there are still people who have yet to discover the unique charm of Björk, and some have simply been brainwashed by the media drone about how “weird” Björk is. Reading just one interview with her reveals how intelligent and insightful she is, and how conversely thoughtful and spontaneous she is as an individual and as an artist.

As a special anniversary treat, here’s an especially fun interview that stands as a perfect example, originally published in the October 2004 issue of SLAP, the skateboarding magazine.

Björk
Interview by Mark Whiteley

THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW, I'M HONORED TO BE SHARING SOME TIME WITH YOU.

Oh no, thank you!

DID THEY TELL YOU THIS IS FOR A SKATEBOARD MAGAZINE?

Yes, they just did!

GOOD, BECAUSE I HAVE SOME SKATING QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO START WITH. YOU RECENTLY MADE A SONG USED IN THE "HOT CHOCOLATE" VIDEO (DURING THE CHOREOGRAPHED WHITE SHIRT SCENES) HOW DID THAT COME ALONG FOR YOU

I was playing this tour last summer around the States and I got a message from my friend, Spike Jonze, saying "Is it ok if I come see your show on the guest list? It's me plus 17." I never get requests like that, so it was really funny. So I played the show, and with live shows you've got good ones and bad ones, and maybe that one wasn't one of the best, but afterwards we had all these tables and chairs outdoors. We had a little ghetto blaster and Drew from Matmos was Djing a little bit, and Spike and his 17 guests came to say hi. I met all the guys and it just became so much fun. Everybody started dancing, but it was really muddy there, so somebody dragged out a carpet they'd nicked from somewhere and put it over the mud. Everybody started breakdancing and inventing these stupid dances, and it ended up being 10 times funnier than the show. But I got introduced to all those skaters there, and then two months later I got an email from Spike wondering if I'd be up for doing a song for their video. I was really excited, like "Yeah, of course!" I was in the middle of making this new album and I was on this little island of the coast of Africa in a tiny studio, and Spike was in LA, so I wrote the song and he'd email me the footage of them skating so I could see what it was going to look like. I was watching the footage at like the size of the stamp. I'd send him some music, he'd comment on it, I'd rework it and get it right. I had met all the guys on the tour, but I'd had a few drinks and wasn't really fresh with remembering all of them on the spot, but I got this English kid who skates and lives on the island to say all the names of the skaters, and I sampled that and put it into the song. But it was such a fun experience, those guys were outrageous! It was great fun.

THE GUYS I TALKED TO WHO WERE ON THAT TOUR SAID THEY HAD THE BEST TIME WITH YOU, THAT IT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP. WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT SKATERS WERE INTO WHAT YOU DO, OR DID YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT? YOU'VE GOT QUITE A FOLLOWING IN SKATING.

I didn't have a clue, to be honest. It was really quite flattering to find out.

SO WITH THE NEW ALBUM, WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO DO AN ENTIRE ALBUM BASED ON VOCALS AND VOICES ALONE?

I didn't start off thinking that was what I was going to do. I was just writing songs with instruments, but I'd listen to them and think "This isn't really good, is it?" I'd start muting certain things and it would sound better, so I thought maybe I'd just take more away and see what happened. It just kind of happened. Looking back on things, it's always easy to be wise afterwards, to sound clever, but it wasn't like that while I was doing it. I was just kind of tired of instruments, bored a bit, and I'd been backing with them a lot the last few albums, arranging for a huge orchestra – the VESPERTINE tour had 70 people on stage. It was kind of like "Fuck that!" and just let's do something completely different. There was one track where these German guys did a whole rave sounding track with just their voices and that really helped me see the possibilities. It wasn't like they were beat-boxing; these are really white Germans. It just cracked me up and seemed so fun. I was just into having fun with something new.

ALL OF YOUR SOLO ALBUMS HAVE HAD SUCH A DISTINCT SOUND AND FEEL TO THEM HAVE YOU CONSCIOUSLY TRIED TO MAKE EACH ONE IT'S OWN LITTLE WORLD OR HAS IT BEEN A NATURAL PROGRESSION OF SOUND TO YOU?

Mostly it comes naturally. Part of me is very conservative, and obviously being a singer my voice is always going to be on the albums and sound the same and have the same person writing the lyrics, so there are so many things that are always going to be the same- which is great. I like being conservative in that way. But the other half of me becomes like a kid in a toy shop. One album I might say "Everything is going to be pink!" The next album I might say "Everything is going to be made of licorice!" Music should be adventurous. You're always going to be yourself, but you can enjoy different things. You can travel and make changes, and one minute you might be watching a comedy in the cinema and the next you might be at a funeral for a relative.

AND YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP ROLLING WITH THINGS.

Yeah! And we're like that, we can adapt. Like you say, we can roll with it, so why not?

YOUR ALBUM ARTWORK AND YOUR VIDEOS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BEAUTIFULLY DONE HOW DOES VISUAL ART AFFECT YOUR SONGS? DO YOU TRY TO MATCH THE SOUND WITH THE LOOK? DO YOU GET INSPIRATION FROM IT?

It's a bit of both. I get really excited when I see something visual that I like, but after seeing so many videos on MTV where you see the best video and hear the best song but they don't fit together at all, I decided to really go out of my way to make sure there is a connection between what you see and what you hear. I think that connection might be more important than either part on its own. The handshake is more important.

THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY LYRICAL AND VISUAL REFERENCES TO ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS IN YOUR WORK- IF YOU COULD BE ANIMA, REAL OR NOT, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE?

(Laughter) I love animals! I really like pandas. I think they're sexy, to be quite honest. I like so many though. I like fish and I like jellyfish – I think they're gorgeous. I really like plants a lot too. Do you know who David Attenborough is?

YES.

I really love his DVDs. I like to watch those nature documentaries a lot. I really enjoy them.

YOU HAVE SUCH A DEVOTED FAN BASE FROM ALL OVER THE PLANET. DO YOU FEEL LIKE A CITIZEN OF THE WHOLE WORLD NOW OR WILL YOU ALWAYS BE AN ICELANDER?

That's an interesting question. I think a bit of both. I still spend half my time in Iceland, so I'm still very Icelandic, but at the same time I think the world is getting really international – especially with the internet. It's so fun to explore things from different parts of the world on the web. Like when I was doing this album I got really into different kinds of vocal music and I would go explore around the web for it. It didn't matter where anybody was, and it's so lovely that there's a time in the world for trainspotters. You can just be a trainspotter and you'll always find somebody on the web internationally who can be your team. The world is getting really international, and that's a great thing.

YOU TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE DIFFERENT VOCALISTS ON THE ALBUM. YOU WORKED WITH SOME REALLY INCREDIBLE PEOPLE FOR THIS ALBUM. IS THERE ANYBODY YOU WERE MOST EXCITED TO GET TOGETHER WITH?

It's impossible to pick because I chose them specifically for different reasons. First I worked with the throat singer, then with Tokaka from Japan, then Mike Patton from Faith No More and Mr. Bungle who is kind of the experimental metal guy, then with a classical guy named Gregory, and then Rahzel – the beat-boxer king of the universe & so it's just impossible to compare because they are so different. But it was amazing how everybody was so into it and ready to try anything. It was great that everybody was into trying things that made them vulnerable. I think I've only touched the surface of what can be done with voices.

DO YOU THINK YOU'LL DO MORE WITH IT?

Yeah, I'm learning about funny comedy noises and I just got really into yoddling! Fierce!

REALLY? HAVE YOU BEEN PRACTICING?

Not yet, but I can see some trips to the Alps happening. Maybe I'll make a yoddling rave album- there's a time and a place for that.

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO WORK THESE SONGS INTO YOUR LIVE SHOWS?

Everybody involved seems to be up for it, so maybe they'll all come on the road. What I'd like to do is make another album like this and then tour for two of the at once.

HAVE YOU STARTED WORK ON ANOTHER ONE ALREADY?

I have. When you start exploring something, you open a box and all this stuff comes pouring out. You don't want to stop the flow if it.

I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE GROWN UP LISTENING TO ALL THE MUSIC YOU'VE MADE'DO YOU PLAN ON KEEPING THINGS ROLLING FOR A LONG TIME TO COME SO WE CAN ALL GROW OLD WITH YOU AS WELL?

Oh yes, that'd be great, wouldn't it?!

Review of DRAWING RESTRAINT Exhibition in San Francisco

2006-07-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

The exclusive U.S. staging of Matthew Barney’s DRAWING RESTRAINT Exhibition opened on June 23rd at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, successfully bringing visitors closer to Barney’s work than any of the hype ever could. The exhibition “occupies the Museum’s entire fourth floor, which has been reconfigured to eliminate the gallery walls and so encourage a nonlinear experience of the art.” This ambitious project spans nearly 20 years and includes film, video, sculpture, illustration, and performance, with an over-arching visual vocabulary that serves as the connective tissue between each of the aforementioned media. This overview of Barney’s on-going project is impressive not only in vision, but in execution. The creative process is as thematically vital to Barney’s work as the art itself, and monitors displaying video loops of the work as endeavored under purposefully challenging and restrictive conditions function both as documentation and performance.

Some pieces are less impacting than others, but the overall effect of the exhibition is extraordinarily powerful. The work is so unusual and so well executed that it is close to impossible to view it without marveling at the attention devoted to both elegant minutia and epic displays of spectacle both beautiful and horrific.

Many of the large scale sculptures in the exhibit reflect images and moments in DRAWING RESTRAINT 9. A scene in the film of a pier that collapses under the weight of an unspecified object being pulled from the water is replicated in a sculpture of the pier as rubble, impressively and weightily executed from wood, steel, concrete, petroleum jelly, and self-sealing plastic. In an adjoining and much larger room, accented with the ambience of icy winds and storm-whipped seas (similar to the tonality of Björk’s “Storm” from the DR 9 soundtrack), are sculptures of ice flows. Video monitors showing related scenes from the film hang from the ceiling. In other rooms are smaller sculptures made from similar materials, such as the bench with the whaling tools, and the three multi-channel video installation created for DRAWING RESTRAINT 7, showing Barney as a hairless satyr and a Cadillac driving through an unending tunnel as two smaller satyrs wrestle in the backseat. Still other rooms hold small illustrations framed in self-sealing plastic and photos clipped to metal clipboards.

Barney's detractors complain that his art is ego driven, and that his work is more artifice than art. This seems more a reaction to Barney himself and the inability of some to see beyond the hype surrounding Barney’s celebrity. There is no shortage of precedents within the art world of artists who have used themselves in their work. Art is always about the artist, and the imagery in Barney’s work speaks for itself. Appreciating it on a visceral level alone doesn’t necessitate grasping its meaning, a truism that can be applied to the work of many artists.

Beyond affording the opportunity to view Barney’s work in person, the highpoint of the exhibition was the screening of DRAWING RESTRAINT 9. That the screening was included with the entrance price of $12.50 was a bargain in itself, and the fact that the audience was comprised of Barney and Björk fans guaranteed a relatively respectful viewing experience.

My review of the film would be more in line with that written for the NY Times by Stephen Holden (posted here on April 9, 2006), with a minor variance in opinion.

My one complaint is that Björk’s role in the film could have been played by anyone. That aside, if it had to be anyone, it's fabulous that it is Björk, but unlike the emotional connection she made with the audience as Selma in DANCER IN THE DARK, her appearance in DR 9 is buried alive beneath the solemnity of the film. She certainly looks fantastic as she sheds one set of garments to be adorned in another and then another, but little of what makes Björk so unique was allowed to emerge.

Although Barney talks about his films – the CREMASTER series, for example – telling a story, you don’t really watch them with the expectation of a plot, or dialogue, for that matter. The viewing experience is most satisfying in terms of the visuals, tone, mood, etc. DR 9 has little of the bizarre imagery that distinguishes the CREMASTER films, and it relies more on the symbolism of ceremony. This is not to say that the film is without its awesome and occasionally stunning imagery. The film takes place on various levels of a Japanese whaling vessel called the Nisshin Maru, and the least interesting portions of the film are those featuring Barney and Björk. The gravely formal sequences in which they prepare for and take part in a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony commit the capital crime of being boring to the point of inducing sleep, simply because all emotion or even a suppressed hint of giddy expectation is smothered beneath what we’re left to assume is the Japanese way.

Far more interesting are cut-aways to the ships’ crew working on a large sculpture prepared from petroleum jelly to Barney’s specifications, the retrieval of a large log-like item from the sea (which was on display in the exhibition), and female pearl divers. Things finally get interesting when the ship enters a storm, and water (or liquefied petroleum jelly) begins to flood the lower decks, where Barney and Björk become engaged in a grisly ritual of transformation. Despite the film’s length of 153 minutes, the film is too engaging to notice, even with the sleepy wedding segment.

If you are in the San Francisco area between now and September 17th, you are encouraged to see the show, and the film, for yourself. This may be the only chance you’ll have.

What follows is an interview with Matthew Barney that appeared in the April 3, 2006 issue of NEW YORK Magazine, which might serve to demystify and illuminate his work and his influences.

Influences: Matthew Barney

By Karen Rosenberg

Your mother was an artist. What kind of art was in your home in Idaho?
She was studying at that time. A lot of the things she was doing were done at school. But there were books lying around — Robert Smithson, Joseph Beuys, Eva Hesse.

And then you came to New York to visit her, when your parents divorced. Where did she take you?
She was living in Tribeca, and a lot of the things we would do were downtown. There were galleries in the East Village. I remember going to a Ramones concert.

What kinds of movies did you watch growing up?
Horror films, for sure. The Evil Dead films, the Friday the 13th films, Jaws, The Omen, The Exorcist, The Shining—the simpler, the better. When I started making art, I think the simple-format horror films were a model for me, as a way of making something that blended an object and its environment—if you accept that in some of these stories the antagonist and environment are interchangeable, like the cabin-in-the-woods stories, or the ocean and the shark in Jaws. On a visceral level there was a big difference for me between “wet” characters and “dry” characters. Zombie films never appealed to me because they were too “dry.” I was repulsed by the lack of moisture in those characters.

Besides Ursula Andress, whom you cast in Cremaster 5, which actors made an impression on you? Bruce Campbell, in the Evil Dead films. It had to do with physical comedy.

What about some of the other genres of film that show up in your work—thirties musicals, silent movies, Westerns?
There was a program on public television that had to do with particle theory and self-organizing systems, and they were taking images from some of those Busby Berkeley [films], and I remember relating to that very much. That might have been when I was in college [at Yale]. As a high-school student I spent quite a lot of time looking at film footage of myself playing football—we’d study these films after we played. They were silent, and they had a very odd presence.

What about art films?
The early video artists—Chris Burden, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Joseph Beuys, Marina Abramovic—were really influential. In many cases, I never saw the videos. As a student, I had access to still images. The relationship between those secondary documents and the primary event ended up influencing the way I use video: trying to document a primary action and create a secondary form out of it.

What did you read?
I remember liking Where the Wild Things Are very much. But when I started focusing on sports, I read less and less. It was quite natural for me to gravitate toward a physical way of learning, and I think I continue to
do that.

Speaking of physical challenges, you’ve long been obsessed with Harry Houdini. What do you consider his most impressive feat?
At the Hippodrome, he made an elephant disappear onstage. And of course the escape through the hole in the ice, which is in that film with Tony Curtis. I think because of that film we have an understanding of how that stunt worked, but I read somewhere recently that they checked the weather records in Detroit, where the stunt was performed, and there was no ice on the river at all at the time.

How did you get to know the work of Richard Serra [who plays the patriarchal architect in Cremaster 3]?
Maybe it was Tilted Arc; I also remember shows at Castelli. I was thinking about the way the body develops under resistance—the way one tears down muscle cells in order to grow more of them. As an athlete, you take that for granted, but I was thinking about the way aesthetic form could develop as well. His thrown-lead pieces were a formalization of that, in a way: a violent action that’s crystallized immediately in the form. And the form is sublime.

How would you describe your relationship to the performing arts?
I’m a real tourist. I was working on Cremaster 3 with those showgirl characters, and I was trying to get my head around that language by going to musical theater—Fosse, the Christmas Spectacular. Opera is potentially the most perfect form, but I’ve never seen one that I really liked. I’m satisfied just sitting in the opera house, not understanding what’s going on.

How about pop music—what did you listen to before you met Björk?
Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics. Some of the first shows I saw when I moved to New York were the Butthole Surfers. They were using found medical films, projecting them behind the band—things that were really difficult to watch, like a vasectomy. The way they mixed media I found really compelling.

In “The Order,” from Cremaster 3, you turn the Guggenheim into a kind of video game—are you a gamer?
I played the first wave of arcade games as a teenager—Galaxian, Pac-Man. Donkey Kong is one of those “levels” games I certainly thought about. Recently, I played a game that excited me—Grand Theft Auto. I was editing in San Francisco and driving across the Golden Gate Bridge every day. I’d spent a late night trying to land a helicopter on the top of the bridge, and the geometry in the game is pretty precise. Driving across the bridge the following day felt like a completely different experience. I felt that I had a completely new understanding of its structure.

Kid Beyond -- Does Björk know about this guy?

2006-06-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Kid Beyond - Human Beatbox Extraordinaire
by Mark Burbey

Not much has been said about the direction in which Björk intends to take her new album, but she is not one to stand still or remain in one modality for long. It has already been reported that Björk has stepped into the studio with such disparate artists as Timbaland, Joanna Newsom, and Toumani Diabaté, who has garnered global acclaim as one of the world's finest players of the Malian kora -- a 21-string harp-lute used extensively by peoples in West Africa. It's no great leap to predict that the next album will follow Björk on yet another trajectory of artistic growth, but there really is no guessing what form it will take.

When MEDULLA was released, she said that she would do another all-vocal non-instrument album, then tour performing material from both. That notion may well have been displaced by other inspirations, but if not, has Björk heard of Kid Beyond, a San Francisco human beatbox artist whose skills seem to surpass those of Rahzel and Japan's Dokaka, both of whom contributed to MEDULLA?

Kid Beyond doesn't just do amazingly rich beats, but he loops and layers them and vocalizes instrument-like sounds over them and sings on top of that. Whether or not Kid Beyond could contribute to Björk's artistic vision of the moment, he certainly fits the mold of groundbreaking outsider with whom Bjork loves to collaborate.

Check out his video and see for yourself.

Also check out his website to see if he's performing at a club near you.
www.kidbeyond.com

Björk -- the Doll

2006-05-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

I know you’re going to notice the pictures before you read the text, so before you rush down to Target to buy your very own Björk doll, please read before you run.

In my on-going web search for new pictures of Björk, I happened upon something rather interesting. Back when the planet was waiting for the Y2K bug to plunge the world into a dark age of untold digital squalor, amateur doll designers were too busy to notice. Jetliners might soon have been falling out of the sky, and the calendars on our computers might have been forever trapped in a dead century, but a very special contest was underway, and the deadline was January 1, 2000.

It’s not quite clear who was sponsoring the contest, but this announcement – which still lingers on About.com 6 years after the fact – spelled out the specifics:

“Charice Doll Makeover Contest! If you'd like to enter the Charice Makeover Contest, the Entry Form is in the middle of the Home Page of http://www.designerdolls.com. The Entry Fee is $15, and the first 50 entries will receive a free nude Charice to work with - they will also be billed $3.20 for shipping. The Winner gets to design for Paul David and MIKelman a Limited Edition Charice (500 pieces). The Winner will also get $75. Second place will get a boxed Charice doll, and Third and Fourth place winners will get Charice clothing sets. Some excitement, huh? Ready - Set - Go!

Rock Stars & Rock Groups Makeover Contest! Makeover your favorite fashion doll into your favorite rock star or rock group! Or ... make one up! Be as outrageous as you like! Fashion doll makeovers only, please. $15 entry fee for each star or group entered. Deadline January 1, 2000! Winner to be announced in the March/April Issue of Designer Dolls Magazine! Send 1-2 photos of your Rock Stars creations, along with a check or m.o. for $15, and a printout of this Entry Form. Send photos only, not the doll. However, we may request your doll for our own photo shoot, if necessary.
First Place Winner gets $75! Second Place Winner gets $25! So, get busy! Join the fun! Be creative! And Happy Designing!”

Apparently there’s a serious scene of fashion doll designers – or re-designers – who re-make dolls like Barbie and Charice into Cher, Tina Turner, Greta Garbo, etc., so when this contest was announced, at least one talent little doll maker was inspired to re-create Björk in her HOMOGENIC garb. After the judges had made their decisions and the results were in, an unknown issue of Barbie Magazine devoted a one-page feature to the Björk doll’s showing as 2nd-place winner in the contest:

“The ‘Björk’ doll was created for the ‘Rock Stars Contest’ in Designer Dolls Magazine. She won 2nd place in the competition. Alexander McQueen designed this outfit for Björk and she wears it on the cover of her HOMOGENIC CD. It’s a mixture of Asian and African style. The hair of her extravagant two discs hairstyle is re-rooted. Her extraterrestrial face is repainted. The rings of her neck are African style. The metallic flowers of her kimono and the stripes on her sash are hand-painted. Matching with this she wears long metallic blue fingernails. Even her red no-heel sandals are exceptional. She stands right there in the photo studio to make a great photo for her CD cover.”

I never imagined that the writing in Barbie Magazine would be so flat and monosyllabic, but outside of not bothering to mention the winner’s name, it gets the job done.

The doll is probably the best one could expect from something cobbled out of an inhabitant from Barbie World. It lacks the alien intensity of Björk’s expression on the HOMOGENIC cover, but the contestant did a great job of replicating McQueen’s multi-ethnic attire and hair-styling. (Click on the full-length photo for a larger view.)

The 2nd place prize of $25.00 is undeniably meager (especially given the $15.00 entry fee), and the “article” makes no mention of who or what won first place, but what could it possibly have been? Madonna in one of her many personas? All four members of Kiss?

Designer Dolls Magazine seems to no longer exist, but the art of turning Barbie and her kin into celebrities has carved out its own odd little niche. It’s probably too much to expect, but perhaps Mattel will be inspired to produce a collector’s line of pop star dolls. How cool would that be, if only to be able to run down to Target and buy your very own Björk doll -- and all her attendant accessories, of course!

DRAWING RESTRAINT 9: The NY Times VS The Village Voice

2006-04-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

David Beardsley, fellow member of the Army of Bjork Yahoo group, has posted numerous reviews of DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 on the message board. These two opposing reviews, however, are well-written and offer seemingly valid reasons to either love or hate the film.

March 29, 2006
MOVIE REVIEW
'Drawing Restraint 9,' a Film Steeped in Ritual, With Whales and a Wedding
By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Near the end of Matthew Barney's visually spellbinding film "Drawing
Restraint 9," a work that might be described as his "Moby-Dick," the
voice of his co-star, Bjork, repeats a life-affirming motto in broken
musical phrases: "From the moment of commitment, nature conspires to
help you."

Those are some of the few words heard in this stately, ritualistic film, which takes place mostly on the Nisshin Maru, a Japanese whaling ship afloat in Nagasaki Bay. The ship looms as a metaphor both for a whale and for Japan. "Drawing Restraint 9" is steeped not only in Japanese
seafaring lore but also in centuries-old Japanese ritual, which is compared in the film's earliest scenes with more frivolous examples of
contemporary pageantry.

Frivolous or not, all human activity in the film is informed by a ceremonial formality, and no task is undertaken casually.

A good part of the film follows Mr. Barney and Bjork, who are welcomed aboard the ship as Occidental guests and undergo elaborate preparations for a traditional Shinto wedding ceremony. Their union, however ecstatic, quickly leads to a solemn, stylized Liebestod that embodies the film's depiction of life as a series of passages in a relentless cycle of creation and destruction.

These scenes infuse "Drawing Restraint 9" with an overt spiritual
dimension that is a new element in Mr. Barney's work. If that
spirituality is an outgrowth of his relationship with Bjork, it is a
welcome addition in an oeuvre whose obsession with athleticism,
competition and fertility rites has sometimes taken on fascistic
overtones. Bjork's chant encapsulates the film's call for human beings
to recognize, revere and surrender to the principle of change.

Like Mr. Barney's "Cremaster Cycle," "Drawing Restraint 9" is a
cinematic component of a larger exhibition, opening at the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art on June 23, that will embrace videos, sculptures,
drawings and photographs. The complexities of such a multimedia work
will perhaps be best scrutinized by art critics and historians. But the
theatrical release of "Drawing Restraint 9" as a feature film now
invites its contemplation as a stand-alone movie. And as a mostly
nonverbal series of interconnected images with a soundtrack composed by
Bjork, "Drawing Restraint 9" represents a significant advance from "The
Cremaster Cycle." The uninitiated viewer can admire it simply for the
majesty of its visual poetry.

Its rhythms are solemn but never static; the color glowing; the largely
ambient score evocative. Even the most enigmatic images, shot from many different angles, are arresting. The camera repeatedly returns to the
deck of Nisshin Maru, where sailors in a choreographed assembly line
fill a mold with 25 tons of hot petroleum jelly that hardens to resemble a giant hunk of cheese that is later sliced. Vaseline has been a
constant (and, to my mind, witty) symbol in Mr. Barney's work.

For all the solemnity surrounding the preparation of this mutable sculpture, it lends "Drawing Restraint 9" an undertone of zany humor.

Everything that happens on deck is reflected in what happens below.
After the wedding ceremony, Mr. Barney and Bjork cling together while a
thunderstorm gathers. As the ship is tossed on the water, liquid
petroleum jelly begins to leak into their cabin. As the newlyweds, still
completely in each other's thrall, become immersed, they pull out
flensing knives and slice away pieces of each other's lower bodies,
which mutate into creatures with whale-like tails. The storm subsides,
the sculpture is reassembled, and the ship is last seen among ice floes
approaching Antarctica.

That describes just the shell of a film that acquires more layers the
more familiar you are with Mr. Barney's work. If his auspicious
collaboration with Bjork has little in common with that of John Lennon
and Yoko Ono, who met on the border of pop music and fine art, there is
one fundamental similarity.

Bjork infuses Mr. Barney's architectural concepts with emotion in much the same way that Lennon's emotion warmed up and helped popularize Ms. Ono's abstractions.

Drawing Restraint 9

Opens today in Manhattan.

Written and directed by Matthew Barney; director of photography, Peter
Strietmann; music by Bjork; production designer, Matthew D. Ryle;
produced by Barbara Gladstone and Mr. Barney; released by IFC Films. At
the IFC Center, 323 Avenue of the Americas, at Third Street, Greenwich
Village. Running time: 135 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Bjork and Matthew Barney.

---------------------------------------------------

Barney's Rubble
Cremasturbatory art film exercises no restraint
by Ed Halter
March 28th, 2006 1:11 PM

Drawing Restraint 9
Written and directed by Matthew Barney
IFC Films, opens March 29, IFC Center

Those who fear that the mainstream of contemporary art has become little more than an extension of fashion will find no comfort in Drawing Restraint 9, Matthew Barney's latest big-budget ejaculation of ritual self-involvement and superficial foofery. Named as part of a series of installations and performances that stretch back to the late 1980s, this 135-minute film isn't part of the artist's over-hyped Cremaster cycle, but continues in its vein: an unsatisfying marriage of excessive production values with insipid cinematography and flat-footed editing. Showing little of its titular quality, Restraint delivers yet another plodding nonsense-rebus of esoteric symbolism with the profundity of a Bloomingdale's window display.

Whereas the last Cremaster installment explored a St. Patrick's Day
plethora of Celtic imagery, Restraint tortures the ghost of Edward Said with an Epcot Center parade of Japanalia.

In an almost wordless narrative, Barney and his real-life spouse, Björk, star in the roles of
"Occidental Guests" to a Japanese whaling ship. There, the pair are
treated to a complicated regimen of shaving, bathing, costuming, and tea serving by their Eastern hosts, who fuss over them with a variety of fantastical props and garments, evidently made expressly to Barney's specifications. Much of the film depicts various Japanese groups working to create elements of the artist's grand vision; since Barney, in an empty legacy to Warhol, hires others to labor over his real-life gallery creations, this is simply art imitating life. And surely many of his upper-class collectors would understand his interest in the celebration of quiet, skilled servitude.

Apologists like to cite Barney's skill at "spectacle," and there are
indeed some strange sights to behold here: a kimono made entirely of
mammal furs, for example, or an enormous mold of chilled petroleum
jelly. The impact of these artifacts rests not so much in their fussy design, but in the excess and expense of their making—a crassly American aesthetic to be sure. In keeping, the bisected-lozenge symbol appearing in various incarnations throughout Restraint seems as hollow and safe as a corporate logo. Björk's appearance provides the visual comforts of a celebrity mug (though her musical contributions work against the film by outclassing it). The unintentionally enjoyable climax, a scene in which knife-wielding Barney and Björk slash at one another underwater and then devour their own leg meat sushi, is no doubt destined for YouTube-ing on Gawker.

Barney's ultimate problem is not his penchant for personalized arcana: Great experimentalists like Jean Cocteau, Maya Deren, or Kenneth Anger likewise had their own internal mythologies. But those artists actually knew how to make films;

Barney edits Restraint with the same badump-badump back-and-forth of his Cremasters, and his sense of composition and lighting could barely suffice for a music video. What Barney does not grasp is that the greatest avant-garde filmmakers astound us by conjuring powerful visions with limited means. Attempting to approximate this kind of poetic cinema with blockbuster production values becomes as absurd an endeavor as writing a haiku with ten thousand syllables.

Björk on The Frank Skinner Show (VIDEO)

2006-04-02T00:23:00.000-08:00

Seemingly around the time that Dancer in the Dark was in release, Björk appeared on The Frank Skinner Show. If you’re like me and many other unfortunate Americans who have never heard of Frank Skinner, here’s the bio that appears on the BBC website:

“Chris Collins played his first gig, in December 1987, at the Birmingham Anglers' Association. As there was already a Chris Collins in Equity, he used the name of a chap on his dad's dominoes team.

”Frank Skinner's down-to-earth brand of humour won him the 1991 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, beating Jack Dee and Eddie Izzard to the prize.

”Since then he has gone on to become a household name. As talented a stand-up comedian as he is a razor sharp talk show host, Frank Skinner has earned his place at the top of the comedy game.

”His friendship with David Baddiel produced the Fantasy Football and Unplanned series. But some would say that their ultimate achievement was co-writing and co-singing football song Three Lions which became a favourite on the terraces in the European Championship in 1996.”

Skinner has been hosting his own showing since 1995, and his interview with Björk is both humorous and illuminating. Most winning about this interview – and so refreshing in a media environment that often continues to look upon Bjork as the eccentric alien who wore the swan dress to the Oscars – is Skinner’s obvious familiarity with Björk’s work and his non-reverential respect for her as an artist. Björk is utterly enchanting in this interview and if you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a real treat. If you have already seen it, it’s way worth watching again.

(You may have to give the video a moment to entirely upload.)

Björk and the Alchemy of Every Day Noises

2006-04-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

by Mark Burbey

In re-reading Ian Gillin’s informative and enjoyable book – Björk: There's More to Life Than This : The Stories Behind Every Song – a particular quote emerged as being especially noteworthy and insightful. (It’s on page 105 if you have the book at hand.)

As Björk spoke of creating the music for Dancer in the Dark, Gittins sited how the project gave her the opportunity to “make concrete” her steadfast philosophy that “the most entrancing, transforming music is the cacophony of sound that is heard around us every day."

“One thousand years ago in Africa,” Björk said, “music was about taking the magic of the noises you hear every day and taking it to the next level, which is making a tune out of it. The Africans would make songs out of bird noises and rhythms and rivers. Their music sounded like their lives.

“It was the same in America in the 1950s. Everybody was driving round in these big cars that went ‘VROOM VROOM VROOM!’ so of course they invented rock’n’roll, which made the same noise! That’s what music is – realism, magic realism, taking what is surrounding us each day and making it magic.”

Perhaps it’s the magic of Björk’s music that so gets into the blood of her most loyal fans that makes her work so impossible to resist.

The World According to Björk

2006-03-12T22:23:00.001-08:00

Björk’s first concert video was VESSEL, a recording of a performance at The Royale Theatre in London released in 1994. Its director was Stephane Sednaoui, who would go on to direct Björk in two videos (“Big Time Sensuality” from DEBUT, and “Possibly Maybe” from POST), and photograph her for the cover of POST. He has also directed videos by Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, REM, U2, and others. Making VESSEL more than just a concert video are the little interviews sandwiched between the songs. Her thoughts and perceptions on a variety of topics are very much like those of an novelist or a poet, and very much Björk. Each observational nugget is like a little window peering into the house of Björk, as she looks out at the world with an empathetic eye.

Thanks to Third Class Björk for posting these transcriptions on their site.

ON TRAVEL:

I've always enjoyed seeing people travel. I really like airports because there's always these people saying hello and goodbye and maybe haven't seen them for many years and some people are very very tired. They sorta can't hide their feelings and then they cry, they hug, and they kiss, and they are so focused on receiving someone they love that they forget about all the other people so I actually quite like watching people travel. It's ever so interesting.

ON DEBUT (HER FIRST ALBUM):
Most of the songs I wrote very privately in my room when other people are asleep and when I can lock the door and listen to my favorite albums and eat grapes and stuff. So it was such a private affair between me and myself and then I put the record out, no expectations, just a little statement and so many people have come to me and say they like this and say they understand what I say and that makes me very very happy.

ON CITIES:
First time I go to a city, I was 18 years old. And I was terrified! I came to London and I couldn't believe that you can't just stand up and walk out the door. You can even go on a train or a car and you have to travel for hours and you're still in the city! And this completely freaked me out. I was so claustrophobic and I got so obsessed with oxygen. I couldn't breathe and I was trying to touch the buildings. I scraped off the grease and tried to get in touch with things and it was very scary. But then, I learned to relax all about it and I find it very kinky...kinda sticky. And I buy a bag of chips, which I usually hate and I get all greasy along with it. Ever since, I'm completely addicted to cities.

ON HER EARS:
I could never live without my ears. I'd probably die, you know? I try to communicate with people, but sometimes I almost think I'd be quite happily with my CD player, you know. But it's not true. I'm exaggerating.

ON DREAMING:
When I dream, I'm flying. I don't dream I fly because it's cheating. I swim.

Björk talks about her TV (VIDEO)

2006-03-07T23:10:00.002-08:00

This apparently famous bit of video is absolutely captivating. It's from the Sugarcubes concert video, "Live Zabor" (Elektra Video 40110-3), and features the classic line about not letting poets lie to you.

If video fails to load, click here:
Bjork Talks About Her TV (video)

JC Lemay's remixes of PAGAN POETRY and HIDDEN PLACE

2006-03-05T15:34:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I came across two fabulous Björk remixes -- PAGAN POETRY and HIDDEN PLACE -- by French composer JC Lemay. These are not official remixes, as it were, but they're among the best I've ever heard. The PAGAN POETRY remix is especially amazing and supremely danceable.

These tracks are still available for streaming, if not downloading, on Lemay's website: deepsound.net

Lemay also has a fine CD of his own called TRIP OF HOPE, which you can listen to on his site, and even download.

Make yourself happy and check these out!

Björk Ready for 40

2006-01-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

From www.contactmusic.com (1/12/2006):

Björk couldn't wait to turn 40 (11/21/05), because she learned how to be middle-aged from her grandmother.

The singer admires the way her Grandma handled the landmark, and hopes being 40 will bring her the same happiness.

She says, "I'm ready for it. When I was a girl, my mum was a bit of a wild child and a hippy. Her life was chaotic. She didn't know who she loved or what she wanted to do.

"But when my grandmother was 40 she was sussed. She'd feed the people she loved, but also lead a fabulous life. She was a painter and she used to sneak off for a couple of weeks with a lot of red wine and just paint. She had the best of both worlds.

"I think 20 isn't cool, 30 is a mess and being 40 is nice.

"I'm there now. I am a good older person."

Björk: In Her Own Words

2006-01-16T22:35:00.002-08:00

Hikin.com has a small archieve of Björk articles, and among them is this one published in Britain in the Times of Friday, August 10, 2001. While many of these comments are several years old, I think they provide a great peek into the mind and persona of Björk.

On life:
"I used to think I'd live forever." (July 2001)

On her upbringing:
"It wasn't like I was bought up by wolves, but it was very much a question of getting a key round my neck and becoming my own little trooper." (December 1995)

On her personality:
"I've always been happy, silly, sad, boring, furious, ecstatic, in love, the whole scale, all at the same time. So if I'm not happy all the time, it doesn't make me unhappy, if you see what I mean." (July 2001)

On fame and stardom:
"Being famous is like nine million volts of electricity going through you." (July 2001)

"I had a little taste of stardom with the Sugarcubes, enough to know it's not brilliant." (June 1993)

On her film role in Dancer in the Dark:
"There were periods in this film when I felt like I was having an affair from music, that I felt dirty…because musichas always been the place that sorts me out." (October 2000)

On diplomacy:
"I believe in diplomacy. Kofi Annan [the UN Secretary-General] is a great hero of mine – that element of trying to unite very different worlds…right now I can do with a bit of hanging out just with my mates." (September 2000)

On her and Sir David Attenborough:
"There is such a big chunk of me that is David Attenborough, I think he is my biggest inspiration." (December 1995)

"I have always seen myself as a discoverer, and I think we share this. It is as if he is the interpreter between the natural world and your gran who's sat at home watching television. In a similar way I interpret an audio world which is also shared with people." (2001)

On working with people:
"Everyone will take this the wrong way, especially the Daily Star, but for me to work with people musically is just as important as a love affair. That's why I get rarely involved with them." (December 1995)

On assaulting a journalist at Bangkok airport in 1996:
"The journalist just shoved a microphone in my son's face and asked what bit was like having a mother like me. I just saw red. I'm not proud of fighting her, but I'd do it again." (November 1997)

On her star sign, Scorpio:
"I have to re-create the universe every morning when I wake up. And kill it in the evening…maybe twice a year I have to destroy everything." (June 1995)

On the Spice Girls:
"I think people like the Spice Girls are sacrificing their lives for the entertainment of the planet." (September 1998)

On her future:
"My life is too busy at the moment. But who knows what will happen? I might go on the Punch and Judy show – I mean the Richard and Judy show. I'll try anything once." (December 1995)

On her ex-boyfriend DJ Goldie:
"He bombarded me with drum-and-bass tracks all the time, until I said: 'Give me a break.' He gave me a break all right!" (November 1997)

On her new album, Vespertine:
"It is dedicated to worshipping the home, hibernation, finding paradise in your kitchen, magical moments on your own, that kind of thing." (July 2001)

On her own fulfilment:
"I've got this feeling of completion. The last time I got it was when I was seven and caught a salmon." (September 1998)

On the letter bomb and leaving England:
"Things were happening all around me, and I realised that I'd come to the end of the extrovert thing. I had to go home and search for myself again. My job is essentially about generosity and when I went to London, I had a lot to give, and it turned out I had given it all. If I'd tried to give any more, it would have become bad energy. So I left at just the right time. I'm not saying that I was responsible for the letter bomb, or that I saw it coming, but it didn't surprise me either, because something definitely wasn't right. I am much much happier now." (July 2001)

On Iceland:
"In Iceland, if your car breaks down you fix it, and if you need a house you build it. I'm not saying if you're hungry you go hunt, but it's not far from that. My family still hunts half their food. If you need good music, you make it." (September 1998)

__________________________

Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.

The Ever-Evolving Björk Photo Galleries

2005-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

by Mark Burbey

I've been spending a great many hours and having a divinely good time building the Björk Zine Photo Galleries on Flickr. For me, the earmark of a good Björk website...or a website devoted to any celebrity...is its photo gallery. Björk.com certainly has a good one, and Björkish.net has an even better one, and there are countless other Björk sites that have photo galleries that are fair to excellent. In my years as a Björk fan, trawling these sites far and wide has yielded a collection of over 1000 Björk pics. I'm selecting only the very best ones to include in the Björk Zine Photo Galleries, and as I come across others, I'll be shifting the pics around, keeping the galleries interesting and fresh. The shifting, however, will mostly be a result of finding pics that belong with a particular photo shoot or theme already posted. For example, I've taken all the pics of Björk with red hair out of Photo Gallery One and placed them in Photo Gallery Two, in order to keep them all together. If you have a favorite pic and you find that it isn't where you thought it was, just look in another gallery, because I won't be taking any away.

Many of the newest pics have been culled from the newly revamped photo galleries at Björkish.net, and I again thank Jocelyn for allowing me to do so. She has such great scans of so many rarely seen and wonderful pics, and I encourage you to bookmark Björkish.net if you haven't already.

Why Flickr? Simple. I know rudimentary html, but as far as creating the standard grid-style page of tiny
clickables that open into larger pics, I'm lost. But I'm very happy with the Flickr format and the appearance of the Björk Zine Photo Galleries. Each set of pics has a limit of 200, so once Gallery Two reaches its limit, I'll create Photo Gallery Five. (I doubt that Galleries Three and Four, devoted respectively to DANCER IN THE DARK and DRAWING RESTRAINT 9, will ever reach 200 pics.)

IMPORTANT TIP: When viewing pics in Flickr, it's important to know that when you click on a pic in any one of the Björk Zine Photo Galleries, they appear at medium size, and in many cases, this can be a fairly generous size. Many of the pics, however, are larger than they initially appear. Simply click "All Sizes" above the photo to see any given photo in all its dreamy splendor.

Please visit often to see what's new and different!

Happy Birthday, Björk!

2005-11-21T21:22:00.000-08:00

by Mark Burbey

Born on November 21st, 1965, Björk turns 40 today. Forever moving forward, forever experimenting, forever progressing, Björk has made the most of those 40 years. Creating music and performing since childhood, Björk's entire life has been both enviable and inspirational. How much else one say? Happy birthday, Björk! And may the next 40 be no less brilliant.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Björk Inspiring at 2005 Q Magazine Awards

2005-11-11T21:29:00.001-08:00

by Mark Burbey

On Monday, October 10, 2005, at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, Q Magazine hosted a music awards presentation that puts the Grammys to shame. Instead of celebrating the most ephemeral and mediocre music available for consummation via MTV and iTunes, The Q Awards of 2005 turned an insightful and progressive ear toward music of greater quality and substance. Inexplicable is the only word I can find to describe Coldplay being named “Best Act in the World Today” or Oasis winning “Best Album,” but when Jimmy Page wins the “Icon” award, and Nick Cave wins the “Classic Songwriter” award, and Paul Weller wins the “Outstanding Contribution to Music” award, and Prodigy wins the “Innovation in Sound” award, and Joy Division (!) wins the “Legend” award, and Yoko Ono accepts the “Q Special Award” for John Lennon, you know those who voted in the Q Awards had something more on their minds than most records sold.

Most exciting and gratifying was Björk being given the “Inspiration Award.” Instead of winning an award for a particular album, track or performance, it seems much more appropriate that she win in this uniquely comprehensive category. Not long after hearing Debut and becoming a life-long Björk fan, I saw her profiled and interviewed on The South Bank Show, and the first thought that came to mind afterwards was how inspiring she is, both as an artist and as an individual. Even more fitting is that Robert Wyatt was chosen to present her with the award. Apart from being counted among Björk’s many friends and collaborators, Robert Wyatt has been producing amazing music of his own since the 1970s. (Rock Bottom is a 1974 classic that everyone should listen to, but the more recent Shleep and Cuckooland are no less brilliant).

Björk looked as stunning as usual, and was wearing the same amazing shoes she wore to the Venice Film Festival!

The October issue of Q Magazine offered a post-awards mini-interview with Björk, presented here courtesy of björkish.net, a wonderful website that rivals the official björk.com. The photos appear through the gracious auspices of björkish.net, as well. Thank you, Jocelyn!

What have you been up to lately?
I'm living in Reykjavik again. It's great. I've started work on a new album. I've just been hanging out with friends and DJ'ing at my little local bar, which is fun and no pressure.

What are you drinking?
Champagne. It keeps you sparkling!

Made any new friends?
I was chuffed to meet Robert Wyatt again. He sang on my last record. I went to his house in Louth, it was a really special day. Otherwise -- I know a few people here, but they're not my special friends

Will you keep your Q award in the loo or on the mantlepiece?
We still run our indie label in Iceland, Bad Taste. We put all our awards in the office there.

Liam or Noel?
Oh. Can I pass?

Who should have an award today but didn't?

David Attenborough. Which award ? Ha! I dunno, but I like the way he looks at life. He's really positive.
Your favorite speech today?
Jonathan Ross just cracks me up. I don't always agree with what he says but that's not the point. And I went all mushy for Joy Division when they played Love Will Tear us Apart.

Where are you going next?
I'm going back to Iceland tomorrow. Today? I dunno. I'm going to improvise.

Sympathetic books and films according to Björk

2005-07-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Click on the image for a larger view.

Review of Selmasongs

2005-07-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

by Mark Burbey

I've started this blog, devoted exclusively to Björk, because she is unquestionably one of the most original musical artists of our time. She remains true to her vision and growth as an artist, while remaining a viable force in commercial music. Her music and her attitudes have influenced countless other artists, and despite her fame, she prefers to avoid the celebrity spotlight.

It's been five years now since DANCER IN THE DARK starring Björk was released in 2000, but with the impending release of her score for Matthew Barney's DRAWING RESTRAINT 9, it's a good time to take a look back at Selmasongs. I was writing reviews for Alternative Press and other music magazines when DANCER IN THE DARK hit the theaters, and. it was my pleasure to review the resulting soundtrack album, composed and performed by Björk. Doing so afforded me the opportunity to view the film at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The film was screened in an extremely comfy theater at Dolby Labs in San Francisco, and proved to be a rather moving experience.

My review of Selmasongs used to be on the Alternative Press website, but it seems like they've cleaned house and there's no longer anything about Björk on their site. Click on the image below for a scan of the review as it
appeared in the magazine.

Björk Zine

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Bjork Zine's Third Anniversary

“I didn't like being a celebrity. It's a service job. Like washing toilets.”

BJORK ZINE Magazine Cover Gallery UPDATED

The Great Björk Scam of 2003

Here's a good Björk question...

Happy Birthday, Björk!

Bjork Zine Promo Video 2006

The Proliferation of Björk's Tattoo – Part 2

Björk to reform Sugarcubes for one-time benefit concert in Iceland

LAST CHANCE to see DRAWING RESTRAINT 9

Letters of Comment / Request for tattoo pics

The Proliferation of Björk's Tattoo -- Part One

Björk Zine – First Anniversary Issue!

Review of DRAWING RESTRAINT Exhibition in San Francisco

Influences: Matthew Barney

Kid Beyond -- Does Björk know about this guy?

Björk -- the Doll

DRAWING RESTRAINT 9: The NY Times VS The Village Voice

Björk on The Frank Skinner Show (**VIDEO**)

Björk and the Alchemy of Every Day Noises

The World According to Björk

Björk talks about her TV (**VIDEO**)

JC Lemay's remixes of PAGAN POETRY and HIDDEN PLACE

Björk Ready for 40

Björk: In Her Own Words

The Ever-Evolving Björk Photo Galleries

Happy Birthday, Björk!

Björk Inspiring at 2005 Q Magazine Awards

Sympathetic books and films according to Björk

Review of Selmasongs

Björk on The Frank Skinner Show (VIDEO)

Björk talks about her TV (VIDEO)