Icelandic artist Björk makes her Walt Disney Concert Hall debut on May 30, performing with a 32-piece string orchestra in a sold-out concert conducted by Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason. The event is part of the LA Phil’s Reykjavík Festival, highlighting what the organization calls the “profound musical creativity” from Björk’s native land.

It also coincides with a groundbreaking digital and virtual reality video exhibition featuring music from the Björk’s latest album, Vulnicura. Björk Digital will run from May 19 to June 4 at Magic Box at The Reef in downtown Los Angeles. Tickets are still available for the exhibition.

To create Björk Digital the singer worked with a collection of directors, programmers, and visual artists from around the world to create a series of works displayed through rooms. Björk Digital will invite guests to experience these immersive works through the latest in virtual reality technology.

The Björk Digital exhibition is a series of experiences: This begins with six VR experiences where users are transported with custom headsets; then, the Biophilia room, a hands-on educational space which showcases Björk’s innovative apps and custom-made musical instruments, encouraging users to dive into an exploration of musicology, science and technology; and finally, the Cinema room, a curated program of Björk’s extensive canon of music videos, remastered for this exhibition experience. Included are videos directed by Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alexander McQueen, and many more.

 

“”Family’ for me is the center piece of the Vulnicura VR album and I am so thrilled to complete this with Andy and James. We tried to capture with virtual reality the metaphysical journey of healing of a heart wound, and hope the audience will be able to experience it with us,” Björk said in a printed statement of her collaboration with director Andrew Thomas Huang co-creative director James Merryin.

Björk uses the Unity videogame engine to drive her VR performances, including her virtual appearances at media events to tout her work (including one scheduled for Los Angeles on May 21 to promote the exhibit and her concert performance).

The Björk Digital VR experiences include:

• Stonemilker VR – Filmed on a remote beach location in Iceland and directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, Stonemilker VR presents Björk in a windswept 360-degree film performing the first track from Vulnicura.
• Black Lake VR – Commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Black Lake VR features a custom-built immersive space featuring a bespoke, cutting-edge surround sound set up to create an immersive and visceral virtual reality experience. Filmed in the highlands of Iceland, the video was directed by Andrew Thomas Huang.
• Quicksand VR – Featuring a 3-D printed headpiece by Neri Oxman, Quicksand VR captures Björk’s live performance at Miraikan, Tokyo, in augmented virtual reality. The work was created in close collaboration with Dentsu Lab Tokyo.
• Mouthmantra VR – Directed by Jesse Kanda, Mouthmantra VR transports the viewer to the inside of Björk’s mouth for an intense and intimate experience as she sings the video’s title track.
• Family VR – Directed by Andrew Thomas Huang with co-creative direction by Björk and James Merry, Family is the centerpiece in the VR anthology for Vulnicura, encapsulating the full emotional arc of Björk’s journey from despair to empowerment.
• Notget VR – Notget VR, directed by Warren du Prees and Nick Thornton Jones, presents Björk as a stunning digital moth giantess transformed by masks created by James Merry.

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