Anthony Andujar Jr
Art In NY
Professor Dina Pizzarello
3/11/15
There have been a variety of reviews by New York Times, NME among others that have expressed their opinions on Bjork's Songlines Exhibit at the MOMA. Personally, as a Bjork fan, I wanted to experience the exhibit on my own. It took me a while to see the exhibit due to MOMA's closing schedule. Luckily, I picked a Wednesday (March 11th, 2015) to see the exhibit. Now originally, I imagined in my head that I would see all kinds of documents and pictures, but I didn't really get a chance to see that on my first visit. I went to the second floor exhibit "Black Lake" theater section of Bjork's exhibit. What I did see was the "Black Lake" music video. The video was shown in a little theater room with two wide screens. A limited number of People can enter the room, sit or stand anywhere they want, and watch the video. As a fan, I liked the video, and I thought it was interesting with the set up having the little theater room mimicking what the Icelandic cave appeared to be ( which the director Andrew Thomas Huang directed in collaboration with the well seasoned Icon).
I could understand the problem that an individual would have when it came to looking at two screens to see what was simultaneously happening since there are slight alterations between the two projections shown with in the music video. It takes minor time to get adjusted since its meant to feel things in real-time, much like a volcano erupting as one attempts to escape at the same time. Personally, my first visit to the exhibit I enjoyed the music video collection room where people can stand or sit on the red couches and watch every music video from Bjork's musical career. Even the song "I've seen it all" from Bjork's film Dancer in the dark is included ( which is personally one of my favorite tracks from her career including the Selma Songs soundtrack which contains a duet rendition with Radiohead front man Thom Yorke). I enjoyed being among strangers and having a collective unity of enjoying the singers lengthy catalogue while sketching. (Yes, I sketched). On Saturday March 14th, 2015 I met up with my classmate Fernando to check the 3rd floor of the Songlines exhibit. On the third floor, visitors were given a iPhone and headphones exclusively made for the exhibit. It was a timed session of 40 minutes, detailing a loose story based on poems by Bjork, and her friend Sjon. In addition, there were prop replicas of outfits that Bjork wore through most of her music videos throughout her career. Props such as the clothing material from Bjork's Sophomore album Post, the Vespertine swan dress that Bjork wore for her Oscar winning film Dancer in the Dark(2001), as well as the bell dress from the Medulla album tune "Who is it" along with other material from the Volta, and Biophillia eras. The narrator ( I believe Bjork's frequent collaborator and long time friend Sjon) urged visitors to take their time to soak in the surroundings and information filled with diaries and notes aside from the props. As visitors venture through the exhibit, based on the area, the sound wave technology reacts to the visitors position, allowing them to hear different sounds, narrations and music as a whole. On March 17th, I visited the Exhibit for the third time with another friend ( Bianca) and this time, I was soaking in more than my last two visits. I really loved this interesting venture through Bjork's creativity. I started focusing on her hand writing and doodle drawings that her lyric notes would contain. interestingly enough, even her hand writing has this interesting style that mirrors most of the fonts in her musical CD sleeves and linear notes. The more I venture and visited the exhibit, the more I felt at home in the conceptual confines that the space contained. I realized that they didn’t have the music video " Play Dead" but that’s just a minor complaint. I realized what was most interesting about the exhibit, as an exhibit of its own, How much societies opinion on the Icelandic singer had changed. What was considered a horrible fashion dress, is now displayed as a trophy on display. One can't help but sense a feeling of accomplishment due to how it was once criticized and has now been accepted. Most interestingly is all of the technology that was used for the exhibit. technology and nature have always been topics and themes that Bjork has always touched upon throughout her career. The audience is able to have a glimpse of some of the tools and instruments used during Biophillia era ( although there wasn't a lot of those tools, it was still nice to see a few sample choices among the bunch). Personally, I loved the exhibit. It was nice to see a lot of the colorful content and material that The artist has had in collaborations with Alexander McQueen , Spike Jonez, Chris Cunningham and a few others. It was nice to see the props in person as well as see glimpse of how much creative effort as well as imaginative vision was delicately made to emphasize on her visionary career. She truly was and still is ahead of her time ( since she is currently working on her Music Video Stonemilker using Oculus Rift technology). The only minor thing that I desired more was to enter more into the mind of the artist and what that would look like when it comes to her psychological creative process. Also, I wished that the exhibit was longer to detail her time before her solo career when she was with the Sugarcubes and her work when she was a little girl. In addition I wish there was a little more exploration of the area, because the space just doesn't do enough justice. I wished that I was able to chill in the exhibit as long as I wanted, but given the early closing times that the MOMA has, it's pretty fine for what it is. I just felt that Bjork, the artist, deserved a better space where there would be more content displayed. But for what it was worth, I enjoyed it a lot both as a fan and as a Visitor of the exhibit who was wiling to go in without much expectation. If there is anything that the Exhibit does absolutely well in, its showing the fusion between technology and nature, Imagination and science, and a sense of innovative wonder that the Singer has always excelled at. her music, her videos, have always emphasized a sense of inclusion, and with what she has accomplished, she's done just that. I'll be visiting all the way till June.
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