Customer Reviews

Bjork

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was probably the worst purchase that I've made in a long time. The story on the cover is beautiful and really captures the essence of Bjork. I was hoping for more of the same on the inside, but I was very dismayed to find that the book is mostly photographs with far too much whitespace (nearly half the pages in this book are blank). To add to the insult, there were photocopies of the CD album covers, which, when combined with the caption, spanned four pages. Any true Bjork fan surely owns all the albums and having photocopies of the album covers is such a filler.

To top it all off, a load of crud was yanked from the internet (including a very outdated survey) and thrown at the end of this book.

I was expecting so much more.

Bjork is amazing, talented, insightful, and beautiful. This book is not. You'd be better off going to any Bjork website. It'll have a lot more content than this book offers.

Bjork has a talent for choosing amazing people to work with such as musicians, photographers and designers, this book is a collection of those works. Packaged with unusual cover, typeface and paper it lends to Bjorks unique way of doing things, always looking for a different angle while bringing the best of the best together under her name.

Unfortunately the book doesn't live up to those standards. I would have liked to see a bit more work, the non-gloss paper makes it hard for the photos to stand out quite the way they should and there simply isn't enough of Bjork herself in there. It is, in the end a small collection of other peoples works.

The only time you hear from Bjork directly is as interviewer of David Attenborough, which itself talks about their reactions and thoughts to other things, not themselves. It feels like Bjork is hiding behind other peoples ideas and giving as little of herself as possible. Does she hope to lend her inspiration, but keep herself protected?

The photos are a mix of works, from the A. fantastical (unearthly, inhuman, godlike) to the B. typical (Bjork looking pretty and quirky), to the C. real (Bjork the real person you might meet in the street) In my mind theres too much of B. and not enough of A. and C. We don't find out what inspired these works, what is it about Bjork that made these photos unique and worth collecting into this book. The fashions in particular are something i would have liked to learn more about.

The idea to give each image its own page and put the artists name on the back of the page is a little frustrating, you can't help feel you're getting half of what could have been included in the book. Nor am i convinced they only picked the best of the bunch, many of my favourites have been left out, while others that have been published many times were included. Of course, there will always be disagreement of what should and should not have been kept, but perhaps if the collection had been larger then i would not have been as disappointed.

The text is all worth reading, yet again i wish for more from Bjork, it is her book after all, though she seems content to let others speak for her. Rankin's essay is a good read and the many stories are interesting. But i'd trade it all (as would any Bjork fan) for a peek into Bjork's scrapbook of ideas.

I'd hope this book was part of a growing series, Bjork is surely not done yet and many more things worth seeing are sure to come. This book certainly doesn't feel very comprehensive, i don't feel much closer to Bjork and her ideas, or the ideas of the many artists that contributed.

in short, worth having, but only just. The book falls short of what should have been a luscious adventure that filled the senses (the way her music does). ...

Even though I'm a huge Bjork fan, this book still dissapointed me. The book is a collection of some wonderful photographs of Bjork, including many intimate and beautiful ones. For readers (not lookers), there is nothing to be offered - the editors seem to have felt that they should throw some arbitrary text in the middle written by arbitrary authors - and they really shouldn't have. The centre articles offer no insight into Bjork's thoughts or life; they are simply a collection of why the authors think Bjork is special (and who needs to know that!). After the halfway point, some very strange and "arty" pictures are included to finish off. Buy this book only if you are interested in some wonderful photo's of Bjork and if you don't mind the relatively steep price for what you're getting.

I love Bjork as much as the next guy and more than most, and was very anxious for the release of this book, and of course I wasn't disappointed... per sei. The book is fairly light on content (only a couple of articles and a way outdated Bjork obsession quiz), a ton of pictures (though some of the pages between them are actually blank), and of course the 4 pages for freinds (some of which are very interesting, some are just sorta poinless). All in all, there's little INSIGHT, which is what it seems a book like this would be ideal for. And the pictures are of course beautiful in their artistry (and utterly stunning in their subject matter), it just seems like this book isn't everything it could have been and that, for the [price], it really should have.

When I first recieved this book in the mail, I thought, well this is good, but expensive, especially with so little reading. But then, I took a closer look at it. It is simply amazing. This is Bjork, a woman who shies away from the public eye, but presents to us a token of her life, but leaves it up to the onlooker to interpretate. If you look at each picture very closly, you will see the meaning and value in each of them. Bjork reinvents pictures themselves, instead of looking at young, thin singers prance around in practically nothing (there is only ONE interpretation to that) she shows how a collection of pictures and texts can unfold a life story. Ask yourself Who is she? what is she doing? Why is this important? in each picture, and new reasons will come to you. Along with beautiful pictures comes a variety of text, one almost like an alphabet of her mind. Also explained is the meaning of pictures-what they represent. Poems, exerpts from books, and an interview are also included. Even though Bjork shows only her back to the public, if you look deep enough, she expresses everything through art.

This is a gift to every Björk fan in the world. Every single page is an emotion, every page tells you a little story, and that helps you to collect them in major story that will describe Björk. Even though the book has not many words, those words make you think, those words urge you to ask yourself things that will make you meditate about your real connection with Björk and what is your real situation in it. Perhaps is not a book for everybody, but it works for me.

Björk is as unique as a person can be, yet still be famous. She is like pure imagination, with barely any reality. I'm exagerating, of course, but she is an ultimately original creature with seemingly endless curiosty in everything.

She has a noble idea behind this book. Many celebrities aline themselves with other famous people in their collaborations. That's 'the thing done'. But Björk has seen past that, and realized that collaborating with like-minded individuals makes alot more sense. Even so, her abilty to organize her ideas is a work in progress. As, this book is quite messy and confusing.

The back cover (shown here at amazon.com to represent the item) is absolutely beautiful. It is one of my favourite pictures of her, if not my outright favourite. The glossy finish is perfect. Unfortunately, the inside photography didn't follow suit with the glossy treatment. The photos were given a grainy look, which is more suitable to photographs of antiquity, not futurism. And the graininess doesn't bring out a person's features in portraits as well as a smooth finish does. I did buy this book believing that the inside photography would also be glossy, and still am sure it'd have been alot better had it been. (subjectivity allowing).
NOTE: Amazon.com's representation of the other photos inside the book suggest they're similarly glossy, but they're not.

Björk is amazingly creative, but lacks organizational skills. (Evident in the fact that she does require many collaborators even in the music studio). In this book, it's difficult to know when a submitted piece of work is by Björk, or by one of her friends. I often can't tell what a text is about, even. Are they talking about her? Is this text by her? Or is it random writing?

One problem consistent throughout all of Björk's projects, is they never reveal enough about her. I know much is revealed through her music and her photos, but rarely is there enough content straight from the horses mouth in interviews. I want to know her philosophies, her upbringing, and some life situations. I don't expect her to reveal anything too personal, but I'm always disappointed at how little I find out about her after buying a product of hers. I've heard her suggest that people wouldn't be interested in hearing about her outside of her art, which is for me a mistaken belief. (I'd love to know more about you as a person outside of your art, Björk). And this book continues the frustration for me, which began with the DVD collection I bought. There is a book about Björk by Ian Gittins. It is not a good book, in reality. For a start, it is hell bent on insulting a member of the Sugarcubes, which is poor form, even if you dislike a person. But, it certainly provided more quotes from Björk than this one did. I learnt quite a bit from that book. But this book here is, of course, a much better keepsake.

There is an interview 'by' Björk of David Attenborough (the nature documentary narrator and host). These two make a seemingly unlikely match, but infact are totally kindred when it comes to the natural world. They have a great respect and curiosity for nature. Unfortunately, it seemed that they may have had busy schedules and just squeezed this interview attempt in between engagements. I'd love to see a second attempt at this, where they start a recorder, and simply just talk for a couple hours. They are very insightful and refreshingly curious about the world.

I'm personally not fond of the artworks by Björk's friends, but I appreciate the idea. This kind of experiment is what got her where she is. She doesn't rest on regulation procedure. But overall, this book didn't work for me. No context is given to the works by her friends, so it's hard to appreciate where they are coming from, (if indeed one knows who a page of work is even by). Oftentimes, context makes the difference between enjoying a piece of art, and not.

In all, you get to know Björk through her art, and her sharing of her friends' art, but there still isn't enough material here that 'directly' reveals her to us. I respect the thought put into this book, but as with all original people, sometimes it's hard to know exactly what they set out to accomplish. But if you don't mind the obscurity, you will, as a fan, like this book anyway. Even though this book didn't strike a chord with me, the artist herself has, and I fully respect the attitude behind this project.

this book is a great concept. in some ways it's just what
i would want...and it's even better to know that bjork actually
worked on this...there are some wonderful pictures, and some
really neat cartoons and anecdotal contributions from some of
bjorks friends. i really love the layout and design, but the
actual pages with pictures and stuff are like computer print-outs, i mean they are not exactly high-definition and the paper
is kind of flimsy and not in the most flattering way. this must just be symptomatic of the actual creation process which probably
involved computers in a very elementary method. and this is OK,
it definitely works regardless, in kind of a distilled, uncluttered, pure form...a wonderful little treasure, just don't
expect it to be an all encompassing portrait of this, an artisan
in the shape of girl.

cheers

I'm an art student in college and would like to think that I am very dedicated to the work I do. Over Christmas I was preparing myself for a college interview in February and was told that the college likes to see my personality reflected through my interests. First thing that popped to mind? Björk. No one else quite moves me or holds my attention like this little genius, and the thought of doing sketchpad work on her 'art' brought a smile across my face, I can tell you! Okay, it might sound a bit self-indulgent, but I think I can afford to be in the case of Björk.

So over Christmas I produced sketchpad work on her 'art.' I was interested in exploring the way she communicates with her audience, and how she does this through music, video and fashion. Everything in her career is methodically thought out by herself. She isn't controlled by her record company, because you can't control people like her. Everything from remixes, photoshoots and videos are well-thought out to create elaborate works of art, so my aim was to research and analyse this, before somehow using it to make my own piece of art, using her level of artistic intelligence, based on this. That's where this book came in useful!

I ordered this book over Christmas and was delighted with it, because it has many things in it that I can use for my project. There isn't much text at all in this book apart from a few interviews so if you're expecting massive essays about her career and in-depth interviews then this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you're interested in visual communication which is thought-provoking like myself, then I would recommend this to you in a second. Perhaps one of my favourite sections of the book is a collection of cartoon drawings of dreams that Björk used to have as a child. I found this to be just adorable and very personal for her to communicate with her fanbase in such a way as to let them into her childhood dreams.

There are also many, many interesting photos of Björk, most in black and white, of her in just 'ordinary' situations. I think these are much more interesting than glamorous photoshoots of just an ordinary pop star. These photos make you think - or they make me think - about just what on earth she's trying to communicate with us. Is she trying to communicate anything at all? Perhaps not, but it's interesting to think about these things. I also really like the full colour reproduction of the "Homogenic" album cover, and also the CD cover to the single "Bachelorette." The large double-page screen still capture of the "All Is Full Of Love" is also very cool, with the two robots gently kissing.

This book has almost 200 pages in it, so I think you get your money's worth. It's a rather minimalist book though, and there are many blank pages with just a few words in the corner. This is how the book has been constructed, though, so you should respect Björk's artistic decisions. The cover jacket of the book also features an incredible story about Björk, which is hard to read at first because the font which has been used is the one which was used on the track listing of the "Vespertine" album. Overall I think a great product to add to your Björk collection, but perhaps not for everyone.

Bjork, She is everything. A singer, an actress, a model, an icon for women and men alike, a celebrity. She has a singular name yet only the very hip know who she is. She is the alternative Madonna. Bjork is a photographer's dream. A stunning face with an individual look. This book is a taster's platter of her photo work, her first Greatest hits if you will.
She has been photgraphed by everyone from Anton Corbijn to martin Argles and filmed by everyone from Spike Jonze to Stephen Sednoui. The photgraphs in this book represent Bjork and her look through several different creative phases in her career. The problem is they leave you wanting more. Scour the net and you will find many pages devoted to her music and her pictures. Reading this book I was left wanting access to the library of photos from which these were taken. I guess not enough is better than too much and I am sure one day we will see a comprehensive tome of pics. I do not envy the editor of that. There are also some obscure writings which are worth investigating in the back. A very interesting interview of Sir David Attenborough by Bjork herself finds them having more in common than you might think. More cryptic articles and photographs are included and only the die hard Bjork fans will understand thier meaning but make them no less interesting to the casual observer. I have only had this book for one day and already a non-Bjork fan friend of mine has borrowed it!.