Björk on nature and technology (2016) | Hacker News Reader

Björk on nature and technology (2016)

thecreativeindependent.com

102 pointsatsy27 comments

Björk and Laurie Anderson are my two favorite artists who have a feel of both nature and technology in harmony, but there's an artist who preceeds both that captures the feeling best for me: Richard Brautigan in the 60's

    All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace

    I like to think (and
    the sooner the better!)
    of a cybernetic meadow
    where mammals and computers
    live together in mutually
    programming harmony
    like pure water
    touching clear sky.

    I like to think
    (right now, please!)
    of a cybernetic forest
    filled with pines and electronics
    where deer stroll peacefully
    past computers
    as if they were flowers
    with spinning blossoms.

    I like to think
    (it has to be!)
    of a cybernetic ecology
    where we are free of our labors
    and joined back to nature,
    returned to our mammal
    brothers and sisters,
    and all watched over
    by machines of loving grace.

    https://allpoetry.com/All-Watched-Over-By-Machines-Of-Loving-Grace

Could the title be perhaps the inspiration for the "Self Models of Loving Grace" presentation by Joscha Bach in last year's CCC?

https://media.ccc.de/v/38c3-self-models-of-loving-grace

Good find. That's really interesting. I would guess the titles are related.

I want to also mention that with "Bachlorette" Björk seems to anticipate Large Language Models and wrote a cautionary tale about them:

“One day I found a big book buried deep in the ground. I opened it, but all the pages were blank. Then, to my surprise, it started writing itself: 'One day, I found a big book buried deep in the ground…’”

björk : bachelorette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNJv-Ebi67I

> björk : bachelorette

I love this song since my teens and never dig into the meaning of it. Its a musical masterpiece even without understanding the text (which I didnt)

Yes, that's absolutely the allusion. Brautigan's line is a popular title for stuff, including a widely read post by Dario Amodei two months before the CCC talk you've linked:

https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace

And it's also the title of an Adam Curtis documentary:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Watched_Over_by_Machines_o...

It's a good line.

It was certainly the inspiration for the Adam Curtis mini-series of the same name.

This presentation sounds interesting. Thanks for the link.

I was introduced to Richard Brautigan by a chance encounter with The Tokyo-Montana Express from the used book shelf, highly recommend it as well.

Ah, an excuse to share Björk's legendary video about how TVs work! You shouldn't let poets lie to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75WFTHpOw8Y

"... Millions of little screens that send light on you..."

How poetic!

for a moment it seems like she's talking about TikTok

Yes, but did you see the video about her getting shocked from the TV during those takes?

Björk ELECTROCUTED by her TV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNgMjfRglUk

Note that this is not real.

No Guðmundsdóttirs were harmed in the making of the foregoing video, although I'm sure she would be charming and adorable while sustaining a minor electrical shock.

When I stumbled upon this months ago I was entirely taken in by it, as every time I see the video with the back of the TV off, I wonder how she didn't get shocked. I had a really good laugh when the video was done.

Just make sure you watch it all the way to the end. Or at least pay attention to the date in the title.

Bjork talking about her torn-apart CRT TV is one of my favorite videos.

https://youtu.be/75WFTHpOw8Y?si=FnWcYEtpdhsziJ11

The whole time I was thinking: ‘don’t touch Mr. Capacitor.’

Definitely an old-school ASMR favorite.

The mentioned Stonemilker video was one of the few things to really grab my attention with the Google Daydream VR when it got for free with whatever Pixel it was that came with it.

At the time, she said of the 360 VR technology that it was a challenge and "it’s still being discovered, but people don’t know what it is."

Daydream VR would be discontinued 4 years later...

https://youtu.be/gQEyezu7G20?si=Tu7DirCjq8psKI8x

This might be a good time to remind you that her Vulnicura VR album (that the video you linked to is from) has just been remastered and rereleased. Available on Quest 3 (https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/9760145800676411/) and Vision Pro (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bj%C3%B6rk-vulnicura-vr-remast...). It's one of my favourite ever albums and I really need to find a friend with a Quest 3/Vision Pro, I have never gotten to experience the VR videos.

Vulnicura VR is incredible. It’s a truly moving experience that wouldn’t work in any other medium.

Nature _is_ technology. It’s far too advanced for us to understand. And perhaps due to not-invented-here syndrome, we tend to try and recreate it (crudely).

We're part of nature too. Is the technology we produce also part of nature?

It is, but it's a somewhat different point. Or perhaps the same one, taken from the other end.

I tend to phrase GP's point as: life is nothing but molecular nanotech that we didn't design ourselves, and don't fully understand yet.

Love Björk. She always has very refreshing takes.

Aurora Aksnes interesting too

When Bjork meets Attenborough [0] is a great watch too.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiW6SybyYtU

Kristen Wiig does a killer Björk impression.

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