![\"Still](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Screen-Shot-2015-03-13-at-12.06.41.png\")
Still from the music video for “Moon” by Bj\u00f6rk, 2012. Directed by James Merry. Courtesy of One Little Indian.<\/p>\n Still from the music video for “Moon” by Bj\u00f6rk, 2012. Directed by James Merry. Courtesy of One Little Indian.<\/p>\n
Alongside Bj\u00f6rk’s chiming gameleste and hypnotic gravity harp, a Tesla coil hangs from the ceiling of MoMA’s main atrium. Bolts of plasma flash from the centre; percussive cracks and crunches of the electric discharge roar across the hall, recreating the steady but unconventional beats that background Bj\u00f6rk’s signature wail as visitors enter. Though only occupying a few rooms in MoMA’s expansive mid-town space, the message rings clear: Bj\u00f6rk has arrived.<\/p>\n
A lot has been said about Bj\u00f6rk’s “Mid-career Retrospective” at MoMA. The initial wave of blows questioning the institution’s integrity followed the press conference almost immediately; a second round of disappointed critics mourned the lacklustre treatment of Bj\u00f6rk’s body of work came shortly thereafter. The overwhelmingly negative buzz preceded the exhibit when it opened on Sunday, 8 March, but how much of it was deserved?<\/p>\n
![\"Still](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/101673-full.jpg\")
Still from “Black Lake”. 2015. Courtesy of One Little Indian.<\/p>\n
A do-it-all at heart, one of Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s most striking qualities is how she remains in control of her artistic direction, finding the perfect candidate to help realise her vision precisely as she sees it. In a discussion with MoMA Director Glen Lowry, Klaus Biesenbach <\/a>explained his initial pitch to Bj\u00f6rk in 2012: design a retrospective for where you will be in three years. While the show\u2019s organisation and flow seems a bit spotty (the show deserved more than its \u201ca room here, a hall there\u201d treatment), the Bj\u00f6rk exhibit succeeds in exploring the evolution of a contemporary artist still growing, still working and still coming of age.<\/p>\n The second floor of the MoMA features two dark rooms. On one side, red couches rest under a massive screen on which the music videos for \u201cAll Is Full Of Love\u201d, \u201cBachelorette\u201d and other Bj\u00f6rk classics play on loop. \u201cBlack Lake\u201d, a 10-minute video work commissioned by MoMA and the official music video for the centrepiece track of her latest album, is projected on the walls of the hall directly opposite. Linking the two rooms conceptually is \u201cSonglines\u201d, an installation that weaves through the third floor. The tour flows through Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s outfits, sketches, props and album covers as actress Margr\u00e9t Vilhj\u00e1lmsd\u00f3ttir retells Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s life story spun into a fable by Icelandic poet Sj\u00f3n. While \u201cSonglines\u201d is heavily sentimental\u2013the iPhone audio guide is continually referred to as \u201cyour Heart\u201d in the exhibit\u2019s introduction\u2013it illuminates Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s trajectory as an artist, as a lover and as a mother from the smiling girl with Bantu knots in \u201cBig Time Sensuality\u201d to the writhing siren in \u201cBlack Lake\u201d.<\/p>\n