All is Full of Love

All is Full of Love, a song by Icelandic singer Björk features a videoclip by video artist/director Chris Cunningham.

It shows us a sterile industrial environment in black and white, with stark white lighting that cause the occasional purplish lens flare that adds to the already surreal feeling. Industrial robot arms move gracefully to the slow beat of the song and begin to assemble a female looking robot that has the face of singer Björk superimposed on it. During the assembly the robot begins to come to life, at one point welding sparks fly from the head symbolizing the spark of life. The robot sits up and meets a second, similar faced robot. The two touch and start to ‘make out’ in a loving embrace.

Apparently Björk brought a Chinese Kama Sutra for inspiration for the video, and while the imagery itself is not explicit, it definitely projects sensuality through the suggestive movements and the use of milky fluids. While the two figure look like robots, this sensuality, the love between them, is what makes them feel alive. It is the one human aspect that makes the difference.

About the artist

Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970)[2] is an English video artist and music video director who directed music videos for electronic musicians such as Autechre, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin and Björk. Early in his career he worked as a comic book artist. He has created art installations and directed short movies. In the mid 2000s, Cunningham began doing music production work, and has also designed album artwork for a variety of musicians. Cunningham worked on a never completed movie adaptation of William Gibson's cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. His style is noted for its use of robotics, body horror and Mickey mousing[3](syncing action with music).

His video installation Flex was first shown in 2000 at the Royal Academy of Arts, and subsequently at the Anthony d'OffayGallery and other art galleries. Flex was commissioned by the Anthony d'Offay Gallery for the Apocalypse: Beauty & Horror in Contemporary Art exhibition curated by Norman Rosenthal and Max Wigram at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2000.

The Anthony d'Offay Gallery also commissioned Monkey Drummer, a 2½ minute piece intended for exhibition as a companion to Flex at the 2000 Apocalypse exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts: however, the piece was not finished in time. In it an automaton with nine appendages and the head of a monkey plays the drums to "Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount", the 10th track on Aphex Twin's 2001 album drukqs. Monkey Drummer debuted as part of Cunningham's installation at the 49th International Exhibition of Art at the 2001 Venice Biennale, which consisted of a loop of Monkey Drummer, Flex, and his video for Björk's "All Is Full of Love". In 2002 both Flex and Monkey Drummer were exhibited by 5th Gallery in Dublin, Ireland, in an exhibition curated by Artist/Curator Paul Murnaghan,[9][10]

Source: wikipedia

storyboard sketch by Chris Cunningham for the video clip all is full of love by Bjork on Double Dutch magazine

Concept art by Chris Cunningham

Still of the videoclip all is full of love by Bjork en Chris Cunningham on Double Dutch magazine
Still of the videoclip all is full of love by Bjork en Chris Cunningham on Double Dutch magazine

Stills from the videoclip