Bjork's Wanderlust Video Premiere at Deitch Studios

The new video for Bjork’s song Wanderlust premiered last night at Deitch Studios in Long Island City; it features Bjork surfing down a river winding through a Himalayan landscape on the back of some kind of woolly yak, while a clay doppelganger bursts from her backpack to grapple with her and a quasi-Tibetan demon coaxes her toward the edge of a waterfall. Then things get really far out.

Directing duo Encyclopedia Pictura shot it in 3D with a custom made stereoscopic camera rig and a mix of live action, puppets, scale models, and computer generated animation. Bjork was on hand for the premiere last night and, after a long delay, she announced that the 3D version of the video had technical problems.

“Hardcore people” could wait around for it to be fixed, but nobody seemed to mind watching the regular version in a jerry-rigged screening room; it’s still quite stunning in two dimensions. (Ultimately, the 3D version was not shown.)

The shaggy yak from the video is on display in the gallery, along with storyboards and other set pieces. Along one wall, shelves hold ten stereoscopic viewfinders depicting 3D scenes from the production, including Bjork performing on the set.

The exhibit will be open to the public tonight only, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Deitch Projects new Long Island City space, located at 4-40 44th Drive. Promises were made that the 3D version would be screened tonight.

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By John Del Signore in Arts and Events on March 13, 2008 3:44 PM

Comments [rss]

WileCoyote

Super Genius. Great looking stills for the video. I wish I could have seen the museum show. Great ideas, great music. Always letting people create to THEIR fullest potential. This mom rocks! You can't teach this stuff.

John Del Signore

Thanks for the yak clarification! About the 3D, I was writing about the private opening on the 12th, which did not feature the 3D version.

flannagan

It wasn't in 3D last night? It looked pretty 3-dimensional to me. Also, I thought they were water buffalos too at first but they're yaks.

JMH

Bjork is so awesomely crazy.

emilydickinson

That looks cool to me. Deitch has some of the most fun art in the city. I once saw Bjork on the handlebars of a bicycle, all dressed in pink barreling down Prince St. with a painterly looking bearded man pedaling the bike. I had to walk into Fanelli's and have a shot.

chuzzlewit

jury - rigged. nautical term.

blablanyc

How much did she spend making that video? One or two million?

matty

i don't agree with that. i think it looks incredible.

nonumentalart

are you kidding?! this looks horrible and both her and deitch should be taken off the map...she is not being subversive, she is not being avant garde, she is not doing anything that hasn't already been done.

zodak

tonight only?? wtf kind of nonsense is that?

Gregoire

That video looks spectacular! Too bad her music is most unlistenable now.

matty

you think you guys can actually get in at 430 pm?

babyhitler

i think she's doing the weird for weird sake sometimes but she's just definitely weird most of the time too. people in th 18th century were weird too. think about it this way. What if an asteroid destroyed 99% of the world's population and all the remaining children had a bjork video and based their entire culture on the bjork religion? this might happen.