Research on Bjork

1. The Singing Butler is an oil-on-canvas painting made by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano in 1992.
It sold at auction in 1994 for £744,800, which was the record at the time for any Scottish
painting, and for any painting ever sold in Scotland.[1] Reproductions of The Singing Butler
make it the best-selling art print in the UK.[1]
The painting measures 28 inches (710 mm) by 36 inches (910 mm). It depicts a couple dancing
on the damp sand of a beach on the coast of Fife, with grey skies above a low horizon. To the
left and right, a maid and a butler hold up umbrellas against the weather. The dancers wear
evening dress: a dinner jacket and a red ball gown; the woman also wears long red gloves but
appears to have bare feet. The butler is also formally dressed, while the maid wears a white
apron and clutches her hat. The scene is reminiscent of the early 20th century, but bathed in a
warm Californian light despite the approaching storm.
As a contemporary cultural icon, The Singing Butler has been compared to Grant Wood's
American Gothic. Vettriano has described the painting as an "uplifting fantasy" and chose the
subject after being complimented on his paintings of beaches. He added the servants to
balance the composition. His work has been widely criticised by art critics, but is popular with
the public. The Singing Butler has been criticised for its uneven finishing, inconsistent lighting
and treatment of wind, and for the odd position of the dancers. The dancers' pose is reversed
from a normal closed dance hold. Usually, with the man leading, his left hand would hold the
woman's right hand, and he would place his right hand on or below the woman's left shoulder
blade, while she places her left hand on his right arm, just below the shoulder.
The original painting was sold at auction in August 2003 for £90,000, and then sold to a private
collector in April 2004 for £744,500, a Scottish record at that time. After the painting was sold,
it was reported that Vettriano had used an artists' reference manual. The Illustrator's Figure
Reference Manual, as a basis for the figures (the female figure in the reference work is actress
Orla Brady).[2][3] Vettriano retorts that Francis Bacon had the same book in his studio, and that
Picasso said that some artists borrowed but he stole.[citation needed]
Another version of the painting, Dancer in Emerald, omits the maid, while the female dancer
wears a green dress. Both were included in Vettriano's first London exhibition, God's Children,
at the Mall Galleries in October 1992. The original painting of The Singing Butler was displayed
at Aberdeen Art Gallery in February 2012, the first public exhibition for 20 years.
Jack Vettriano
OBE born Jack
Hoggan (born 17
November 1951),
is a Scottish
painter. His 1992
painting, The
Singing Butler,
became a best
selling image in
Britain.

2. Banksy wall and piece
• Known for his contempt for the
government in labelling graffiti as
vandalism, Banksy displays his art on
publicly visible surfaces such as walls,
even going as far as to build physical
prop pieces. Banksy does not sell
photographs or reproductions of his
street graffiti, but art auctioneers have
been known to attempt to sell his
street art on location and leave the
problem of its removal in the hands of
the winning bidder

3. The Creation of Adam
• The Creation of Adam is a fresco painting by Michelangelo, forming
part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted circa 1511–1512. It
illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in
which God breathes life into Adam, the first man. The fresco is part
of a complex iconographic scheme and is chronologically the fourth
in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis. It is the
most well-known of the Sistine Chapel fresco panels, and its fame
as a piece of art is rivaled only by the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci.
• The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has
become iconic of humanity and has been reproduced in countless
imitations and parodies. Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and
Michelangelo's Creation of Adam are the most replicated religious
paintings of all time.

4. Renaissance
• Renaissance music is music written in Europe during the Renaissance. Consensus among
music historians – with notable dissent – has been to start the era around 1400, with the
end of the medieval era, and to close it around 1600, with the beginning of the Baroque
period, therefore commencing the musical Renaissance about a hundred years after the
beginning of the Renaissance as understood in other disciplines. As in the other arts, the
music of the period was significantly influenced by the developments which define the Early
Modern period: the rise of humanistic thought; the recovery of the literary and artistic
heritage of ancient Greece and Rome; increased innovation and discovery; the growth of
commercial enterprise; the rise of a bourgeois class; and the Protestant Reformation. From
this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the
polyphonic style of the Franco-Flemish school.
• Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative arts of that period of European
history known as the Renaissance, emerging as a distinct style in Italy in about 1400, in
parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music and science.
Renaissance art, perceived as a royalty of ancient traditions, took as its foundation the art of
Classical antiquity, but transformed that tradition by the absorption of recent developments
in the art of Northern Europe and by application of contemporary scientific knowledge.
Renaissance art, with Renaissance Humanist philosophy, spread throughout Europe,
affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new
artistic sensibilities. Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval
period to the Early modern age.
• In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel with Late Medieval
art. By 1500 the Renaissance style prevailed. As Late Renaissance art (Mannerism)
developed, it took on different and distinctive characteristics in every region.

5. Bjork - religion
• "I've got my own religion, " she concludes,
giving her nose a final scatch, poke and lug
before heading off for a soundcheck. "Iceland
sets a world-record. The United Nations asked
people from all over the world a series of
questions. Iceland stuck out on one thing.
When we were asked what do we believe,
90% said, 'ourselves'. I think I'm in that group.
If I get into trouble, there's no God or Allah to
sort me out. I have to do it myself."

6. Family Tree - abulm
• Family Tree is a boxed set of musical material by Icelandic singer Björk. The set consists of a
book of lyrics entitled "Words", five 3-inch compact discs of rare and previously unreleased
material, and a regular-sized compact disc of "Greatest Hits" selected by Björk herself.
• Family Tree was released in November 2002, concurrent with the release of Björk's Greatest
Hits album, in which the tracks were selected by her fans.
• The five 3-inch compact discs include: "Roots CD 1", which features songs recorded before
Björk's "second solo debut" (i.e. previous to her 1993 album Debut). This compact disc
features songs by her previous bands: KUKL, The Elgar Sisters, and The Sugarcubes. "Roots
CD 2" features b-sides and alternate versions of album tracks; "Beats", which focuses on
both new and old songs with a heavier electronica influence; and finally "Strings", CDs 1 and
2, which feature live and studio recordings of Björk with the Brodsky Quartet through 1999
and 2000.
• The artwork on the CD was designed by M/M Paris in collaboration with Icelandic
contemporary artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. The cover consists of a tree with letter on the
upper part.
• A music video for the song Nature is Ancient, directed by LynnFox, was released in
November 2002 to promote the compilation, even though the song was originally released
in 1997.
• Björk's notes for the project, as featured on the individual CD artworks, reveal that
"Immature" and "My Spine" were initially considered to feature on the compilation, as well
as track(s) recorded with British composer John Tavener.

7. Interview with the Guardian
• Last July, at the tiny Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, Björk revealed her Biophilia project.
Considering that her Vespertine tour had employed a 70-strong orchestra local to each city, while the Volta
shows made use of brass and choirs in a riot of neon, lasers and what appeared to be giant silly string, it was
remarkable to see that, even by her standards, she was continuing to push the performance of live music into
another realm. This time, the booming voice of Sir David Attenborough introduced videos about nature to a
soundtrack of bespoke instruments controlled by iPad apps, including a pendulum that plucked strings as it
swung, and a giant Tesla coil that emitted a bone-rattling melody, unamplified.
• Since then, Biophilia has continued to evolve as it slowly makes its way around the world (unlike a traditional
city-to-city tour, she sets up camp in one place for a number of weeks). I visited the show in Reykjavik in
October and took part in the educational programme that accompanies it, where scientists show local kids the
principles behind the instruments. This involved learning about soundwaves and trying out a Tibetan copper
singing bowl, naturally.
• Earlier this year, it reached New York, where the Hall of Science in Queens played host. Outside, disused Nasa
rockets stood tall in the gardens; inside, Björk played to 600 people in a round chamber fashioned into a venue,
made more spectacular by its surrounding walls of dark glass, meant to look like the night sky. There, the
education programme continued, where a tour of the museum's usual exhibition, connected to the themes of
the show, was recommended before the performance kicked off. Earlier that day, I sat in on schoolchildren
from the area learning about arpeggios and lightning, then putting this into practice with a chance to take a
turn on the Tesla coil. Only the bravest ones agreed (it's very, very loud).
• Biophilia recently reached South America, but due to ongoing problems with vocal cord nodules, several
concerts had to be cancelled. Björk rests her voice between shows anyway, so we talked over email about
some of her current inspirations. Unsurprisingly these are a broad and varied bunch, from a novel by the
surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, who died last year, to the experimental rap of California's Death Grips,
who provided new takes on Sacrifice and Thunderbolt for her ongoing remix series. She is also a fan of
harbours, Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen, and coconut water.