Human Behavior

New York’s Museum of Modern Art has teamed up with Bjork, the Icelandic artist, for a new exhibit which opened March 8 and is running through June 7, 2015 . Bjork is her first retrospective and collaboration with MOMA, highlighting the multifaceted work of the composer, musician, and singer. The retrospective not only looks back at her career but hints at where she will be in a few years. Through Bjork’s psychedelic mind and magical world, the exhibit draws from more than 20 years of her daring and innovative projects, as well as her eight full-length albums to chronicle her career through sound, film, visuals, instruments, objects, and costumes. Curator Klaus Biesenbach explained that the main objective was to create an exhibit that presented music as a centerpiece.

The 40-minute labyrinthine audio tour has a strong, innovative tech component where visitors get a device to wear around their necks that automatically detects which room they’re in and pipes an accompanying mix of sounds, songs, and audio narration into the guest’s headset. Bjork helped create something that’s not a linear retelling of her life; instead, it’s more of an experience that celebrates the music, art, and fashion from her career. The installation is a multilayered experience that goes well beyond music, which begins on the third floor in a series of interlocking black rooms, each focusing on one album, inspired by the chambers of the human heart. After finishing the main exhibit, visitors head to the second floor where they stand in a dark room and watch a ten minute song from her latest album, Vulnicura. There’s even her infamous swan dress from the 2001 Oscars floating around there somewhere. www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1501