Björk - (Paperback)

About the Book

Published in conjunction with the exhibition 'Bjèork,' [held] at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, March 8-June 7, 201

Book Synopsis

A celebration of the magical world of Icelandic icon Björk

Björk is a contemporary icon whose contributions to music, video, film, fashion and art have influenced a generation worldwide. Designed by top graphic design agency M/M as a slipcased world of wonders, this publication--which accompanies The Museum of Modern Art's spring 2015 exhibition on Björk--is composed of six parts: four booklets, a paperback and a poster. Each booklet contains illustrated texts by, respectively, curator Klaus Biesenbach, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, British professor of musicology Nicola Dibben and the philosopher Timothy Morton (in conversation with Björk), while the poster features artwork from Björk's albums and singles. The main book focuses on her seven major albums and the personas created for each one. Poetic texts by longtime collaborator, Icelandic poet Sjón, are accompanied by shots of Björk performing live; multiple stills from music videos made by directors including Michel Gondry, Chris Cunningham and Spike Jonze; images of Björk in breathtaking costumes by designers such as Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan; and shots by star photographers such as Nan Goldin, Juergen Teller, Stéphane Sédnaoui, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin and Araki. All combine to form an extraordinary design masterpiece, celebrating the magical world of Björk.

Review Quotes

The prodigious Icelandic musical phenomenon Björk is the most avant-garde popular artist of her time, the creative force behind extraordinary music videos and also one of the most instinctive of talents.--Roberta Smith "The New York Times"

Beginning March 8, she takes center stage at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where "Bjork," a retrospective surveys her creative experiments over the past 20 years. The exhibition will feature a new, immersive music-and-film project; trace her seven studio albums, from 1993's Debut to 2011's Biophilia (released in a pioneering album-app format); and include her collaborations with drectors, photographers, and designers like Alexander McQueen.--Diane Solway "W"

Björk (Museum of Modern Art, March 24) is a beautiful book, let's get that out of the way; it's uniquely designed, and was thoughtfully laid out in a hard slipcase that any fan or newcomer to the artist would appreciate. It is a strange book, separated into five booklets with musical score-sheets printed on the covers, each cover getting the score of a different song, each cover a different color, and each one helping us understand the many shades of Björk's music, art, and life.--David LaGaccia "ArtNet News"

Music fans of a certain age will recall the lost pleasures of album covers, and especially of box sets, which often included liner notes, lyrics, and interviews (and, of course, records). Bjork, the catalogue for MoMA's spring-blockbuster entertainment, recalls this form, with a slipcase containning four booklets and a slim paperbound book with poetic ruminations on the Icelandic star's first seven albums along with images of the David Bowie-like array of her performing personae.--Christopher Lyon "Bookforum"

About the Author

Klaus Biesenbach is the director of MoMA PS1 and chief curator at large at The Musuem of Modern Art, New York.

Alex Ross is an American music critic. He has been on the staff of The New Yorker magazine since 1996. He also authored the books The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century (2007) and Listen to This (2011).

Nicola Dibben is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Sheffield, co-editor of the journal Empirical Musicology Review and former co-ordinating editor of Popular Music.

Timothy Morton is the author of Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, Realist Magic: Objects, Ontology, Causality (New Metaphysics), The Ecological Thought and Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics.

Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, known as Sjón, is an Icelandic poet, novelist and lyricist. His pen name (meaning "sight") is an abbreviation of his given name (Sigurjón). Sjón frequently collaborates with Bjork and has performed with The Sugarcubes as Johnny Triumph. His works have been translated into more than 35 languages.