Memoirs of Bjork-Geisha

[satdvspu]

Is this "Geisha"? No kidding!!!

I think it is doubtful if she had seen real Geisha in Japan.

I don't like this performance even if it is satire for something.

This is stereotyped.

[gersonbsb]

the music is back!

[nintoreo]

Haha, this is halerious! I LOVE IT!!!

[54spiritedwill54]

CUTE!!

[resistance5555]

The girl is fat i wouldnt trust her on animal freedom

[kkesh]

this made my day!!! more please.

[ConfusedSponge]

hahahah bjork is crazy!

[Pallebra]

You thought THIS IS BJORK!? Sry for beeing a bit aggressive, but: That's not Bjork!

[ConfusedSponge]

i know it's not her! please be cool

[XXSOLOKASTXX]

That's a dude!......Bjork is way cuter than that....even with pancake makeup on!

[centimeterflannel]

she is not bjork.

fuck you are

[Aramis209]

oh my God, she's stading on the sink, lol!

[degeneratehalo]

lol this is my art teacher

[geishastace]

Funny.

[davep0tz]

Hilarious!! A true work of genius!! Also, where can I get a kimono like that? x

[TheCamelCollector]

it's so hard to believe that cute little geisha is actually my dyky cute little modern art teacher

[guaranamc]

BWA HA HA! Glad some one is willing to point out that Matthew Barney is utter shite.

[ChewingGun]

hahahah so cool :)

[MaryJamesMurdoch]

I LOVE IT! LMAO! The bathroom scene and the weird person in fur just standing on the side swinging the sword around. LOL!

[Menthe831]

ahhh soo cool

[Aquakia]

uh....... is that a man?

[thedutchangle]

this is totally awesome!

Björk is pop music, regardless of how internationally serious DR9 was. This perfomance is a reminder that high art and guerilla performance are both made by humans.

[MaryJamesMurdoch]

a GUERILLA performance, so you just arrived and did your thing?! How brave! Love it, especially the bystanders' reactions, so fun! I wonder what Matthew and Bjork think...

[Tinymoezzy]

I Am not sure but I think I like it ....cute just not sure what to make of it.

[cosmosboy]

wtf? this video it's a shit = you

[ykidkwis]

WTF is this

[BandaMiranda]

HAHAHAHAHA!!

Guerilla Rocks!!!

It's GREAT.

[periloushomous]

agree! guerilla rocks

[jeangenert]

you rock (my whaling boat)!

[dominik8620]

jajajajajaj ke panda de borricos xD

[latequilera22]

hahaha

[deathundothee]

I want that kimono now!

[doubled7]

ugh! me too-UH!!!!!

[dominik8620]

y encima lo peor de todo xD preguntan si es bjork o no...cegatos son todos

[BloodyIngra]

Esa no es Björk ni de lejos! Ya kisiera esa... o "eso" parecerse a björk. (sin queres ofender a la muchacha claro... pero Björk no tiene esa cara de pan)

[dominik8620]

VAYA PUTA CAGADA XD

[Furzkopf888]

it is not björk... i think... no, it isn't...

[Kuschev4eva]

I searched "weiners" and this was the first video

you should be proud

[lolita8gone8bad]

..i dont get it, is this comedy or something?

[macaturra]

some people can explain me??? no entiendo que mierda pasa jajaja!!

[akvavitten]

uuhhmm... this kimono lady is NOT bjork... !!!

it's just a video someone made.

it's clear to see that it's not her.

stooopid

[sweethen]

the best part is the women ignorign her in the bathroom lol

[lukigno81]

I agree!

[Oblivious101]

Aww, her kimono is adorable!

[ElPerfectTorso]

I like how her kimono is covered in stuffed animals, particulary the lobsters XD

[sumiretanpopoaoibara]

What's Kimono!?

[NorikoNapels]

A kimono is the "dress" she's wearing. Now i'm off again finding Björk.

[toona]

dude seriously, it's Matthew Barney... haha.

[YuliasAcups]

man.....I love bjork all the pyschos that love her too...and then make cool weird stuff like this.

[spritenite]

Omg, the seals and lobsters and "urchins." Hahaha, what a great mock kimono.

[francoskrumpli]

wtf this isnt björk!!

[kemtaoro]

CUTE!!!!

[extremeXjapanophile]

she killed that kimono....im sorry, she just did....

[chimeraseven]

um treesmk, are you in any way familiar with Barney's work? That's his spiel, sweetheart.

Anyway, the kimono is hilarious and I love the dirty chopstick going into the mouth. Way to slap some pretentious Wapanese right in their pastey, pinched faces! Most of all, however, I like the girl doing her makeup in the bathroom while the dancer mimes on the counter. Does it get better than that? I think not.

[brianstreet54]

cool! check her out in Screaming Masterpiece!! She's awesome in that one!

[hrekkjavaka]

all art is self indulgent, ofcourse it is, without the artists self indulgence the art would never be born.... why? its human nature, we all love ourselves, we all like to think we are good at what we do, everyone has an agenda.. even artists.. btw, this is funny, i laugh at small minded people...

[mpanzera]

If anyone is offended by this, he/she seriously needs to consider whether he/she is too easily offended. There is a whole subculture in Japan of cosplay that plays with cultural association through costume. There are more important things in the world to get upset about.

[nick03103]

I saw this video and I don't feel right in the head now man. Some girls dig it. Some don't. Really if it was me I'd not want to have my feet hurt and have my hair pulled out but hey? Some girls do. Go figure?

[dayglowjoe]

also, how is Bjork dressing as a Geisha offensive in ANY way? She isn't japanese, so I guess she isn't allowed to be fascinated or to indulge in Jaspanese culture. Let's all keep to ourselves and stay within our boundaries shall we? That's like saying white people can;t have dreadlocks or muslims can;t convert to hinduism or something...

[treesmk]

that's not what I'm saying at all! :p

[dayglowjoe]

Oh ok, I am a bit confused by the whole thing. I haven't seen DR9 but have seen some of his work and heard the soundtrack. It gets a lot of stick compared to her other albums, but that's the point, it isn;t one of her albums, it's an atmospheric sound track for a very abstract (I assume) film. And aren;t his films more like visual symbolic sculpture rather than story-line type films?

[dayglowjoe]

I kind of get what they are trying to say with their guerilla thing but I think it's a bit smug. Having a geisha miing to big time sensuality is hardly very relevant, what with the song being from 15 years ago. It's a bit out of context. I don't think Bjork would ever be offensive or make a culture into a cliche. She has a great knowledge of oriental culture and has worked with some of the most renowned oriental musicians. I'm sure if she was being offensive they would probably have realised.

[treesmk]

it's not her contribution to the project that I have anything against; it matthew barney's. I think her soundtrack outclasses the film! but the whole (longwinded) concept of the film seems kind of fetishistic and exaggerated, and most of all incredibly pretentious... so this spoofing of it, in fact, is more poking fun at its rigid pretentiousness and exaggeration than anything else.

[adcrash]

its creative license... dont be so easily offended by everything.

[dayglowjoe]

I second that!

[adcrash]

i dont think that everyone who dresses like someone who is of a different culture than they are is trying to maliciously culturally appropriate everything...

geishas are not completely innocent in this role either. They represent an ingrained image of women as subservient and silent in japanese culture.

[treesmk]

I agree

[treesmk]

I'm still a fan of bjork's music, but honestly... drawing restraint 9 was unbelievably pretentious and ridiculously self indulgent...

guerilla art keeps art alive... this is clever! I love the video, and it's good to see at least someone is spoofing it

[ShaakThi]

its smart when she has the hidden red stuff in her kimono

[mikeofcetacea]

yes, its insulting, but its performance art. its meant to comment on Matthew Barney's presentation of Japanese culture in Drawing Restraint 9 as well as comment on his use of his girlfriend Björk to sell out his film. I love Björk and Matthew Barney, but I have to say that this is clever!

[fairyboy05]

esa fue la alejandro marina verdad

eso lo hizo primero la stayfree en caracas venezuela copiona

[DontxBringxPajamas]

this is soo random!! lolz

[mikkymeow]

lmao

[yuwakuna]

lmao. interesting, love the lobsters and seals!

its japanese culture btw

[franherflo]

FOME!!

[mahuko]

vrmt aucun respect

[Tankya]

That is rather insulting to the culture of geisha.. it is funny but I think its stupid to call someone a jackass just cause they have an opinion of something though... but people lighten up its a joke so laugh! on another note I love her kimono its so cute.. I kinda want it lol.. oh well whatever nice video keep them coming

[levi42501]

are those beenie babies on her dress? That is a new take on ancient chinese culture.

[UltraHyperGirl]

Love it!

[Shardingan]

what in the world is this? it's REALLY insulting

[treesmk]

drawing restraint 9 is a tad more insulting, really. they're poking fun at it.

[Shardingan]

like I said...still VERY insulting. I really shouldn't care, but to insult a geisha/maiko? wrong on every level imaginable.

[treesmk]

but it's not insulting geishas!

it's spoofing bjork and matthew barney.

[Shardingan]

can you not see that this woman is dressed like a Geisha?

[treesmk]

do you know nothing of "drawing restraint 9"?

[msferalcat]

I agree with Shardingan, it is very insulting. I checked out the IMDB boards to see what drawing restraint 9 was about. From what I read and from the trailer, there's really no reason why she should be dressed like a Geisha so yes, it is insulting. Personally from just watching the trailer, I'd rather see paint dry then to watch the actual... "movie"? If Bjork is trying to make a song about the movie then maybe she should've dressed up like a whale instead.

[treesmk]

are you a geisha? :\

listen: it's making fun of western perceptions of asian culture and japanophilia, as present in arthur golden's memoirs of a geisha and matthew barney's drawing restraint 9, and just the absurdism of it all.

and as adcrash said: there is a such thing as creative license.

[treesmk]

as for memoirs, i'm referring more to the movie than the book... I haven't actually read the book.

[Shardingan]

excuse me..but no, not really.

[treesmk]

fair enough... at the very least can you explain why you think so?

[Chaosrunsthrume]

you people are lame. im dressed as a geisha right now, and im saluting hitler at the same time, and there is pasta with meatballs raining down on me while im being nail to a cross in Iraq.

[dayglowjoe]

why is DR9 insulting? And what grounds do all you people have to be offended? I HATE people getting offended by everything. "PC thugs" and I am quoting the simspons there :)

[Shardingan]

msferalcat is right. Do you want to know what I'm doing when I get a little older? moving to japan and finding a Geisha. To become a Maiko. Gesha are strict people, so there is no reason to dress in a kimono covered with benie-babies and dance like that. Chaosrunsthrume...you have issues. Just so you know. And if anyone cares, I think these people who made this are lame. They are an insult to the Japanese culture.

[treesmk]

why, out of curiousity? calm down, no need to be so offended; I still don't understand why you find this offensive.

[Shardingan]

Why don't you find out you luv Japan so much that you want to move there, then dress in a kimono every day? Then watch this video. You WILL be insulted. God people are strange.

[cologneprince]

i cant believe i watched this whole thing hahaha

[reptilian]

this kabuki actors! XD they are fuckin great!

[jttb011]

Hahaha. I'm sorry, I'm a fan of Barney, and an even bigger fan of bjork-- and I found this really funny, at least for like thirty seconds..

I can't believe all the jackasses here that are acting so critical and offended with this video. Who care's if your a fan? Learn to laugh at satire even if you, or something you like, is at the recieving end; you assholes.

[ariodante76]

well put, thanks!

[ariodante76]

Gee, look at all the carefully-worded, highfalutin criticisms of Bjork-Geisha, by self-labeled art experts. That chopstick is for you! Stick it you-know-where.

[celestronica]

Part 2

Guerilla work: it's not always clever. + there are so many more things in the world to "call out" and "point out." like aids, war, the administration, & other injustice in the world! instead they made fun of other people's art. lame.

frauds!

i can see why people would enjoy it (LCD), think it's funny & not think past that.

i don't think that people who sing karaoke or do cover songs are good songwriters or "artists" either.

[embererebus]

it is not an artists job to point out aids, war, the administration or any other injustice rather than to take part in a cultural exchange. It is natural for an artist to comment on the art world.

[celestronica]

Part 1

This video almost saying "you're too weird so i'm going to make fun of you" - art is self-indulgent in its origin, & must be extreme otherwise it doesn't make an impact.

i applaud barney - more so than bjork really - for upping the art standard of "norm" - which is why i've always loved them. and to make fun of them and call it your own art?!

it's offensive, lazy, fraudulent.

(to be continued... to long of a post)

[scifigal]

I love LOVE the kimono and audacity of it all, awsome. Funny thing is Bjork and Barney would have possibly enjoyed it.

[cocoon79]

oh great...that´s very cool:)

[Titafarts]

har har

however, this is just as self-indulgent as Barney's piece. what art ISNT self-indulgent? art vs art is always a funny and self-defeating concept to me.

(cont)...and you know what? hoorah! i enjoyed this performance, and hope you do many more. self-indulgence is all-american.

(pssst, Guillermo Gómez-Peña does it better... with more important subject matter)

[ksalana]

What is so self-indulgent about providing a dissenting voice for an underrepresented issue?

Art that isn't self-indulgent is art that moves people.

Art vs. art is sad and as frustrating as any partisan issue, but also necessary. What is defeating is not bothering to dissent.

[ksalana]

What America do you belong to? There are plenty of non self-indulgent people here. Look around.

As far as rivaling the "self-indulgence" of the pieces, Bjork Geisha is under 4 minutes, Matthew Barney's is TWO AND A HALF HOURS!!! Nuff said.

(pssst, Guillermo Gomez-Pena works on the SAME subject matter)

[KateHoliday]

This is terrific!

[bjork4ever]

Great video! The lobsters and he seal on her kamono cracked me up!

The ending with the mirro effect is delicious. :-)

[ttlatimer]

this spin-off confounded opening night rubber neckers at sfmoma recently and continues to spin out of control. the perfect response to bjork/barney's arrogant evocation of the tired but obviously not yet exhausted conventions of orientalism (ie europeanism). and its hilarious! where will this geisha avenger show up next?!

[zoestrauss]

this is awesome and necessary.

[jkfkjas]

I saw Drawing Restraint and it was absolutely terrible! Folks left the theater saying "my gawd, that was so self-indulgent!" Not to mention the deeper issues of cultural voyeurism and colonialism this performance certainly touches on. I oved the guerilla performance and the waving the chopsticks around!

[kristinawong]

wow a kindred spirit.

[skjkadsd]

Glad someone finally addressed the ORIENTALISM of Barney's and Bjork's work. Those "occidental guests" are outrageous!!!

[ZukeranChoso]

What a brilliant artistic response to the overly hyped Matthew Barney exhibit at SFMOMA! The Takemoto/Parker rendition with Drawing Restraint as "backdrop" is a priceless repositioning of the prevailing canons in the mainstream cultural landscape. Brava to both for taking it on!

[ttacky]

Tina Takemoto (aka Bjork-Geisha) and Jennifer Parker (aka Matthew-Whaler) presented unsolicited performances of fan dancing, lip synching, samurai whaling, and chopstick hara-kiri during the opening of Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in response to Drawing Restraint 9, a recent film featuring Barney and Bjork as "occidental guests" on a whaling ship in Japan.

[nnknjbm]

hey, i saw these guys at the opening!

i thought it was part of the hired entertainment...but it seemed too weird for sfmoma! cool!

[JudyHolliday]

genius! you are my art stars.

[carlagirl]

Straight-up brilliant! I got to see Tina as Bjork-Geisha at a different venue; wish I could have been there at the opening to also see Jennifer Parker as Matthew-Whaler. Suffice it to say it's the only way I'd have gone anywhere near that temple of white-boy self-indulgence.

[ariodante76]

white-boy self-indulgence... the distaff cousin of white-boy angst (grunge music, anyone?)