Björk: Humans, nature, and technology in experimental popular music

Björk Guðmundsdóttir’s diverse career spans forty years, from its beginnings in punk rock bands in the 1980s to avant-garde electronic music in the 2020s. While based on popular music styles, her eclectic music often exceeds genre conventions, incorporating compositional techniques from modernist art music and an ongoing exploration of new music technology. Björk has always taken a conceptual approach to music, working with recent developments in feminist philosophy and theories of knowledge. In particular, her artistic output is defined by its exploration of the relationships between humans, nature, and technology. Studying Björk’s music we are confronted with questions such as: What does it mean to be human in a digital environment? Can experimental music transform categories of gender and identity? Can music promote more ecological ways of existence? In this course we will study Björk’s music as well as the audiovisual aesthetics of her award-winning work in music video and film. Analysis of recordings and videos will be combined with interdisciplinary readings and discussions on the broader cultural and aesthetic issues that pertain to Björk’s work. In sum, this course will give students specialized knowledge of one of modern music’s most unique artists.

Knowledge:

Students who complete MUSV3141 successfully will have will have gained knowledge of

• Björk’s career and musical output from 1980 to the present day.
• Björk’s film music and audiovisual productions.
• Vocal style and vocal production in recent popular music.
• Compositional and formal traits of recent popular music.
• The combination of avant garde and popular styles in Björk’s work.
• The relation between musical aesthetics and posthumanist thinking on humans, nature, and technology.

Skills:

Students who complete MUSV3141 successfully will be able to:

• Interpret and discuss musical and compositional choices in Björk’s work.
• Present their knowledge of Björk’s music in oral presentation and written essay.
• Do cross-disciplinary analyses that connect musical issues to broader cultural issues.
• Do audiovisual analyses of music videos.

The course will consist of lectures and a variety of seminar activities, such as group listening and analysis, discussions, and oral presentations.