Sounds Icelandic - Essays on Icelandic Music in the 20th and 21st Centuries - Þorbjörg Daphne Hall
‘Imagine what my body would sound like’: Embodiment, nature and sound in the work of Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Sounds Icelandic - Essays on Icelandic Music in the 20th and 21st Centuries - Þorbjörg Daphne Hall
Sarah Boak [+]
University of Southampton
Description
Björk is the most famous Icelandic musical icon and her work is widely seen as representative not only of an Icelandic sound, but of the Icelandic landscape and natural world. Nicola Dibben (2009a) explores the theme of nature within Björk’s work, and highlights how, particularly in her later work, the personification of nature becomes a central theme. This chapter examines the studio recordings of Björk to further explore the relationship between body, nature and sound in her work. Using theories from embodiment studies, I highlight how Björk conceptualises the relationship between the body and nature, particularly through a personal embodiment of the natural world. I analyse how Björk’s creative use of sound is an embodied expression of nature. Using sonic palettes that bring the body to the fore of her work, Björk articulates a fundamental relationship between body, nature and sound, which is at the heart of her creative practice.