On March 20, Björk exploded onto Instagram to cheer on a volcano. “YESSS !! , eruption !!” she wrote as the volcano flared up just six miles from her home in Iceland. “We still got it !!! sense of relief when nature expresses herself !!”
The social media outburst — unexpected and weird, but also earnest, earthy and poetic — was quintessential Björk. After all, this is the artist best known to the general public for wearing a swan to the Oscars.
It was 20 years ago this month that the singer swooped into the Academy Awards with a giant bird draped around her neck — and immediately ascended to red-carpet infamy.
The frock, by Macedonian designer Marjan Pejoski, ruffled feathers. One critic called it “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen,” and comedian Joan Rivers concluded that Björk — who was nominated for Best Original Song, for “I’ve Seen It All” from “Dancer in the Dark” — “should be put into an asylum.” The ensemble inspired endless parodies and earned a spot on nearly every list of the “worst” Oscar gowns.