Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk has released 68 music videos (including 3 as a featured artist), 7 concert films, 5 music video compilations, 2 television performance video albums, 4 documentary videos and 2 video albums box sets. She also appeared in 4 feature films as an actress and has made several television appearances and cameos, in addition to providing music and score to multiple movies. In 1992, Björk left her previous band, the Sugarcubes, and started her solo career with the release of her album Debut. Her first music video taken from the album was "Human Behaviour", directed by French director Michel Gondry, with whom she started a career-spanning collaboration. The video, followed by "Big Time Sensuality", "Army of Me", "It's Oh So Quiet", the latter two from her second studio album Post (1995), received heavy airplay on MTV channels and popularised her image. Starting with the videos taken from Homogenic (1997), as stated in a retrospective review from Philip Sherburne, her videos became "crucial" to build the world of her albums. She also started to experiment with CGI elements, as shown by videos like "Jóga" or "Hunter". "All Is Full of Love", directed by Chris Cunningham, received general acclaim from critics, went on to win two MTV Video Music Awards and was included in MoMA permanent collection.
In 1999, the singer was approached by Danish director Lars von Trier to star in his movie Dancer in the Dark (2000). It was Björk's second feature film lead appearance, having previously starred in the Icelandic television movie, Glerbrot (1987), and Nietzchka Keene's The Juniper Tree (1990). For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk received critical acclaim, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and one Academy Award, and won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. For her 2001 album Vespertine, Björk wanted to convey a more minimalistic and intimate image in her videos, resulting in videos like "Pagan Poetry" and "Cocoon", which were banned from prime-time MTV airplay. In 2003, Björk started a collaboration with collective LynnFox, which provided several visual that served as backdrops for her Greatest Hits tour and also the video for "Oceania", which was projected during her 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony performance. In 2005, Björk starred as the female lead actress in Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9, for which she also composed the soundtrack. Björk's music video for "Wanderlust", directed by Encyclopedia Pictura, received attention for being one of the first 3D music video.
Björk's 2011 multimedia project Biophilia, included her seventh studio album, a world tour, an app and a series of educational workshops. To document the album's creation and themes, Björk collaborated with British Natural historian David Attenborough, and filmed the documentary When Björk Met Attenborough, narrated by Tilda Swinton. The tour's final show at Alexandra Palace in London was premiered as a concert film during 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. Coinciding with the release of Vulnicura (2015), Björk was honored by the MoMa with an artist retrospective, for which she was commissioned a music video for her song "Black Lake". Subsequently, the singer started to experiment with virtual reality videos, resulting in work like "Stonemilker", "Notget" and "Quicksand", which was premiered as the first YouTube virtual reality live stream. All these videos were part of the Björk Digital exhibition, which premiered at Carriageworks, Sydney in 2016, and were later included in the Vulnicura VR album, which was firstly released on Steam in September 2019. Björk's recent videos continue to be received favorably, with her 2017 video for "The Gate" being named the best music video of 2017 by Pitchfork.
Music videos 1990s Title Year Director(s) Description Album "Ooops" 808 State featuring Björk1991Óskar JónassonFilmed in Iceland, it shows a member of 808 State and Björk traveling in a car, and then playing the song inside a grotto.Ex:el"Human Behaviour"1993Michel GondryBjörk sings various parts of the song while in a forest and being chased by an animated stuffed bear. The video is a loose take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears.Debut"Venus as a Boy"Sophie MullerThe video portrays Björk in a kitchen, fondling and cooking eggs. At one point, she is seen caressing a bearded dragon. The video was inspired by the book Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille."Play Dead"Danny CannonThe video consists of scenes taken from the film The Young Americans, interspersed with scenes of Björk singing in a darkly lit church."Big Time Sensuality"Stéphane SednaouiShot in black and white and features Björk dancing on the back of a moving truck slowly driving through New York City in the middle of the day. The video uses film effects like slow motion and fast motion. "Violently Happy"1994Jean-Baptiste MondinoThe video seemingly takes place in a padded room of a mental institute. Björk is portrayed singing the song in a white dress resembling an open straitjacket with pieces of hair surrounding her. Norman Reedus appears in the video as an inmate of the psychiatric ward."Army of Me"1995Michel GondryIn the video, Björk drives a gigantic truck and then heads to a gorilla dentist, who tries to remove and steal a diamond hidden in her mouth. The video faced backlash for the inclusion of Björk bombing an art museum at the end of the video, in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing.Post"Isobel"The black-and-white video portrays various surreal scenes, including a long-haired Björk playing a water-powered piano. Another scene shows various airplanes being formed inside light bulbs which sprout from the ground, and the end features Björk juxtaposed with a waterfall."It's Oh So Quiet"Spike JonzeBased on Jacques Demy's 1964 film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, it features everything in slow motion as Björk sings the verses; during the riotous chorus, everything returns to regular speed and everyone near her dances along. The visual went on to become one of her most recognised music videos and won the award for Best Choreography at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards."Hyperballad"1996Michel GondryVarious projections, including a video-game avatar resembling Björk jumping off a cliff, are shown on a shot of her face."Possibly Maybe"Stéphane SednaouiThe video follows Björk as she is shown performing the song in various rooms. In each location she is dressed in a different way and interacts with different objects."I Miss You"1997John KricfalusiA partly animated video that features a red-haired Björk dancing and interacting with several other characters, which resemble the ones from The Ren & Stimpy Show. At points, a live version of Björk is mixed in the footage. Fred Flintstone makes a cameo as a shampoo bottle."Jóga"Michel GondryThe video shows different Icelandic terrains and landscapes with Björk appearing only in the beginning and towards the end. With the aid of CGI, earthquakes begin to separate and shift the chunks of land along fault lines. The video ends with a computerised image of an island floating inside Björk's chest. Homogenic"Bachelorette"It features Björk as "Bachelorette", a woman who finds a book titled My Story buried in her garden that begins to write itself. She takes the book to a publishing house. The book becomes incredibly popular and is turned into a musical, featuring Bachelorette as herself. When the book becomes unpopular, the setting, which utilises the Droste effect to multiply the space, devolves into Bachelorette's garden, where the book finds its resting place once again."Hunter"1998Paul WhiteA bald Björk passionately sings looking into the camera; as she shakes and moves her head, she begins to morph into a polar bear. Towards the end of the video, she completely transforms into the "techno-bear", before returning to her original state and the image once again fading out to white. "Alarm Call"Alexander McQueenFeatures Björk floating on a raft on a river in the jungle; her scenes are intercut with footage of snakes, crocodiles, and other animals, with Björk playing with them. A first version of the video, directed by Paul White, was previously scrapped."All Is Full of Love"1999Chris CunninghamIn the critically lauded video, an ethereal, white room is shown, where a robot with Björk's features lies in a fetal position. As the room lights up, two mechanical arms begin to assemble the robot. The robot looks up to see another robotic Björk as the machines stop the assembly. It smiles and extends its hand to the sitting robot, joining in the song. The robots passionately kiss and embrace while the machines assemble their backs and light comes and goes. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects and Breakthrough Video.
2000s