Björk Suffers Torment, Finds Renewal in ‘Black Lake’ Video
Björk has added to her long line of striking music videos with a beautifully intense 10-minute clip for “Black Lake,” off her latest LP, Vulnicura. Directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, the video was previously on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City as part of Björk’s career-spanning retrospective.
Shot in Iceland, the clip open with Björk kneeling in a cave, moving languidly as she sings. The singer begins to stand and walk, but falls continually. As she gains her footing, she moves forward with a visceral physicality that’s as much a part of her music as her production and vocals.
As the pace of “Black Lake” quickens, so does the video. Neon blue lava pours out of the ground and Björk’s movements intensify, culminating in a sequence in which she beats her fist against the ground and, later, her own chest. The video fades and reopens with Björk walking through a desolate landscape — though swaths of green grass and a new costume, complete with a billowing pink cape, create a sense of hard-won renewal and freedom.
In a note on Dazed, Björk thanked the many people involved with making the video and song, which featured work from the Haxan Cloak and Vulnicura‘s frequent co-producer, Arca. Björk also wrote of the relationship between the videos for “Black Lake” and “Stonemilker” — a mind-bending 360-degree video that Huang also directed — saying both were intended for the MoMA exhibit, but also designed to be “no nonsense music video[s] (still my fav format).”
Björk also teased potential future releases, writing in her characteristically enthusiastic and cryptic way, “Most curious though about them next things. Perhaps we don’t even have the best tools yet and technology might be where all the senses can merge even better? Here’s to some more VR [virtual reality] Vulnicura releases soon!!!”