Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic singer-songwriter
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
has released 67
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s (including 3 as a featured artist), 7
concert film
A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian.
Ea ...
s, 5 music video
compilations, 2 television performance video albums, 4
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
videos and 2 video albums
box set
A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists ...
s. She also appeared in 4
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
s as an actress and has made several television appearances and
cameos, in addition to providing music and score to multiple movies. In 1992, Björk left her previous band,
the Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes () were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Benediktsson (vocals, trumpe ...
, and started her solo career with the release of her album ''
Debut''. Her first music video taken from the album was "
Human Behaviour
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Behavior is driven by genetic and environmental ...
", directed by French director
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one o ...
, with whom she started a career-spanning collaboration. The video, followed by "
Big Time Sensuality", "
Army of Me", "
It's Oh So Quiet
"It's Oh So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und jetzt ist es still", Select Work ID and search for 390157329. Performers include ...
", the latter two from her second studio album ''
Post'' (1995), received heavy airplay on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
channels and popularised her image. Starting with the videos taken from ''
Homogenic
''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...
'' (1997), as stated in a retrospective review from
Philip Sherburne, her videos became "crucial" to build the world of her albums. She also started to experiment with
CGI elements, as shown by videos like "
Jóga
"Jóga" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer, songwriter and actress Björk for her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). An electronica song, "Jóga" fuses these elements with Baroque music, baroque and Classical music, classical styles. ...
" or "
Hunter
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
".
"
All Is Full of Love
"All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mythology. Björk's original version is a trip hop ballad with Soul ...
", directed by
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970) is an English video artist and music video director who directed music videos for electronic musicians such as Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and Björk. Early in his career he worked as a com ...
, received general acclaim from critics, went on to win two
MTV Video Music Award
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
s and was included in
MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
permanent collection.
In 1999, the singer was approached by
Danish director
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter.
Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...
to star in his movie ''
Dancer in the Dark
''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'' (2000). It was Björk's second feature film lead appearance, having previously starred in the Icelandic television movie, ''Glerbrot'' (1987), and
Nietzchka Keene's ''
The Juniper Tree'' (1990). For her performance in ''Dancer in the Dark'', Björk received critical acclaim, was nominated for two
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
s and one
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
, and won the
Best Actress Award at the 2000
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
. For her 2001 album ''
Vespertine'', Björk wanted to convey a more minimalistic and intimate image in her videos, resulting in videos like "
Pagan Poetry" and "
Cocoon", which were banned from prime-time MTV airplay. In 2003, Björk started a collaboration with collective LynnFox, which provided several visual that served as backdrops for her
Greatest Hits tour and also the video for "
Oceania
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
", which was projected during her
2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony performance. In 2005, Björk starred as the female lead actress in
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
's ''
Drawing Restraint 9'', for which she also composed the soundtrack. Björk's music video for "
Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism.
Etymology
The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...
", directed by Encyclopedia Pictura, received attention for being one of the first
3D music video.
Björk's 2011 multimedia project ''Biophilia'', included her
seventh studio album, a
world tour, an
app and a series of educational workshops. To document the album's creation and themes, Björk collaborated with
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Natural historian David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...
, and filmed the documentary ''
When Björk Met Attenborough'', narrated by
Tilda Swinton. The tour's final show at
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
was premiered as a concert film during 2014
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
. Coinciding with the release of ''
Vulnicura'' (2015), Björk was honored by the MoMa with an
artist retrospective, for which she was commissioned a music video for her song "
Black Lake". Subsequently, the singer started to experiment with
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
videos, resulting in work like "
Stonemilker", "Notget" and "Quicksand", which was premiered as the first
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
virtual reality
live stream. All these videos were part of the ''
Björk Digital'' exhibition, which premiered at
Carriageworks
Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Carriage Workshops in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being use ...
,
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in 2016, and were later included in the ''Vulnicura VR'' album, which was firstly released on
Steam
Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
in September 2019.
Björk's recent videos continue to be received favorably, with her 2017 video for "
The Gate" being named the best music video of 2017 by ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
''.
Music videos
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Video albums
All of Björk's video albums were released by
One Little Independent Records.
Concert films
Music videos compilations
Television performances
Documentaries
Box sets
Filmography
Feature films
Television
Other appearances
Soundtrack appearances
See also
*
Björk discography
*
List of songs recorded by Björk
Icelandic singer and songwriter Björk has recorded more than two hundred songs for ten studio albums, two soundtrack albums, a compilation album, six remix albums and three collaboration albums. She is the sole writer and producer of most of the ...
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjork videography
Actress filmographies
Music videographies