The Bjork Fund
Björk, by far the world’s most famous Icelander, is launching a new venture capital fund hoping to save her economically distressed island home: “Audur Capital will oversee the fund’s day-to-day dealings, directing an initial investment of 100m Icelandic krona (£575,000) toward sustainable, environmentally-friendly businesses.” Given Iceland’s very high level of human capital and the currently near-worthless state of its currency, I think investing in new Icelandic business seems like a decent bet. The trouble, however, is the same as the trouble with everything these days — if everyone around the world is reducing their expenditures, then it’s just extremely difficult for any new business to succeed whether or not it has an underlying idea that’s sound.
At any rate, I like Björk’s pre-solo work with the Sugarcubes best, and the “Motorcrash” video gives you a taste of Iceland’s odd, tree-free landscape:
Also note that unlike some musicians, Björk isn’t just being pretentious in not having a last time — Icelandic people don’t have last names. Instead they operate with a first name and a patronymic based on their dad’s first name.
32 Responses to “The Bjork Fund”
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January 5th, 2009 at 8:53 am
I hope this goads the Swedish Chef into doing something for his own country.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Iceland still has a few natural resources to fall back upon. Some tourists like to party there for some reason.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89285486@N00/3016833961/
January 5th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Not that Iceland is energy-poor, but I imagine that Bjork’s voice could be used to generate power, just as the screams of children power the Monster underworld in Monsters Inc.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Matt -
You shouldn’t give the impression that everyone in Iceland uses only their first names. There may be only about 300,000 people, but that’s a lot of Gunnars, Halldors, and Erikkurs. Not everyone is as famous as Björk Guðmundsdóttir. People do use their patronymics in everyday life. Even so, that doesn’t always fully identify a specific person. So, Icelandic phone books helpfully add a description. E.g., my good friend Jón is listed as Jón Jónsson – læknir (the doctor). If you lived in Reykjavík you might be listed as Matthew Rafaelson – blogger.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Matronymics are popular in Iceland too. They’re not just a patronymic people.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Wow, thanks! I too like the Sugarcubes much better than Bjork’s solo career. Their very best song, and one of the best pieces of music ever, is “Birthday” (which comes right after “Motorcrash” on the album). I never saw this video.
You failed to mention the prominence of bicycling as a mode of transportation in the “Motorcrash” video; the Sugarcubes are plainly showcasing sustainable transport while mentioning the dangers of the automobile. The video also features the relatively eco-friendly motorcycle. BTW from the lyrics, I always thought that the girl on the bicycle was somehow implicated in causing the motorcrash, but the video seems to exonerate her – when the crash happens, she’s nowhere to be seen.
Again, thanks. Time to listen to “Birthday” now.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:36 am
“she’s not just being pretentious” — heh.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:03 am
While I’m sure that Iceland has some great human capital (and not just in the form of hot blondes), there’s still the issue that it’s a small country in the middle of nowhere. Heading into a global recession, what exactly is there that would be a good investment?
January 5th, 2009 at 11:17 am
“Heading into a global recession, what exactly is there that would be a good investment?”
Bailiffs? Insolvency practitioners?
January 5th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’d wager more people buy an EVE Online subscription than buy a Bjork product each month .
January 5th, 2009 at 11:49 am
The Sugarcubes were awesome. Thanks for posting this.
If I wanted to strike a pose like duBois, I might say that the Sugarcubes were delightful pop, while the bulk of Bjork’s solo stuff has been pretentious techno twaddle.
January 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
The Sugarcubes were a perfectly serviceable pop band, but they showed none of the originality, influence, or just overall awesomeness as Björk’s solo career, particularly her first three albums.
January 5th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
CCP is probably the biggest source of hard currency for Iceland at the moment.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I believe at 1:50 of this video, Björk drives past the rear of the building where Reagan and Gorbachev held their Reykjavik summit.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Gudmundsdottir. Bjork’s accepted surname is Gudmundsdottir.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=bjork+gudmundsdottir&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
Took me all of nine seconds to confirm that.
January 5th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Jamey – Gudmundsdottir is the English transliteration. The first d in Gudmund is not an English d, its an English transliteration of an eth (ð). Bjork’s Icelandic patronymic is correctly spelled Guðmundsdóttir. (Eth (ð) is one of several Icelandic letters not found in English, including á. é, í ó, ú, ý, þ, æ, and ö.)
January 5th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I think Adam is mostly hitting the right note, where The Sugarcubes are a pretty good pop band, but Björk clearly surpassed that work on her own.
However, some of that work–especially the last two albums–is not as accessible, so it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to enjoy the earlier stuff more.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I’m surprised that you would characterize Iceland’s naming tradition as “patronymic” when it is, significantly, also matronymic.
January 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
The traditional Icelandic naming pattern is patronymic and works as follows: If Thor Eriksson and Guðrún Johannesdottir have two kids – Jón and Sigga, the kids names will be Jón Thorsson and Sigga Thorsdottir. I.e., Jón is the son of Thor and Sigga is the daughter of Thor. This is a classic patronymic naming pattern.
Matronymic naming does occur in Iceland, but it is still unusual. In the above family, the two kids would be named Jón Guðrúnsson and Siga Guðrúnsdottir if matronymic naming was followed. Even less common is the use of both matronymic and patronymic names – e.g., Dagur Bergþóruson Eggertsson, a former mayor of Reykjavík.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
However, some of that work–especially the last two albums–is not as accessible, so it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to enjoy the earlier stuff more.
I actually thought Volta was her most accessible album since Homogenic. There was a lot less of the music that sounded like it was meant to be listened to on a tiny speaker you can only hear while curled up inside the hollow of a tree while woodland creatures and faeries frolic in the morning dew outside. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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