“We found ourselves in Iceland one day with nothing to do and a 360 camera lying about”
Björk is about to launch her next video – and she's using virtual reality headsets to do it. The iconic Icelandic singer and longtime Dazed collaborator worked with director Andrew Huang, audio specialist Chris Pike and creative producer James Merry on the realising the project. The revolutionary 3D, 360-degree music film will be available to view on special devices at just three worldwide locations – London's Rough Trade East and New York's Rough Trade Brooklyn and MoMA PS1 – from tomorrow. The headsets at Rough Trade will only be available for one day, while PS1 will have them available for two more months.
The featured song will be the Vulnicura album opener “Stonemilker”, and the recording of the video took place on the very place where the song was written – Grótta, a beach outside of Reykjavik. “After arriving in Iceland with a variety of camera gear and open minds, and after my in-depth conversations with Bjork at her home about the circular nature of the song”, Andrew Huang, who also directed the Black Lake video and Björk's recent moving album cover explains, “we spontaneously decided to shoot a performance of ‘Stonemilker’ on the beach using the 360 VRSE.works camera with the intent of capturing an intimate performance for virtual reality.”
Björk picks up the story in a statement released this morning: “We discussed (the) potential (of virtual reality) for intimacy, and Andrew then suggested we take it to the beach where the song was written. It immediately rang true for me, as that location has a beautiful 360 panoramic view which matches the cyclical fugue-like movement in the song. If the song has a shape it is sort of like a circle that just goes on forever.”
The video is launching to celebrate the physical release of Vulnicura, which had to be rush-released following a leak in January. The first 50 people to buy the record in stores today from Rough Trade will get a ticket to view the work over Oculus Rift-style virtual reality headsets. For the following two months, there will be headsets at MoMA PS1, the sister site of the New York museum hosting Björk's enormous retrospective.
But if you're not able to make it to any of these, you can see the full video in its 2D version when it premieres on right here Dazed next week.
It's not the first time she's pushed the boundaries of music and technology – her 2011 album event Biophilia was released as an app and she has often spoken about the interaction between DIY adventurism in music and digital space. “It’s almost more intimate than real life. It also has this crazy panoramic quality. I think it’s really exciting,” Björk said in an interview with Fast Company earlier this year regarding virtual reality technology. “It can’t just be working with the gadget for the sake of the gadget. But also it’s about budgets. You can do apps cheaply ... (It's) kind of punk, actually. It was like starting a punk band again.”
For now though, it's over to Björk herself, who issued this statement on the release of the video:
i am proud to announce finally the release of combined digital/cd and vinyl of vulnicura. it took us a while to gather all together into point after leak but here you are : i would like to thank all my team for their insane hardwork and be up for some tupsy turvy improv .
i am also incredibly proud to offer a premier of stonemilker . with 360 3D sound mix for virtual reality headset.
this came about as a spontaneous fruit of mine and andrew huang´s collaboration. we had already done black lake , the "family" moving album cover and the black lake "book cover" trailer and then found us in iceland one day with nothing to do and a 360 camera lying about . we discussed its potential for intimacy and andrew then suggested we take it to the beach where the song was written . it immediately rang true for me as that location has a beautiful 360 panoramic view which matches the cyclical fugue like movement in the song . if the song has a shape it is sort of like a circle that just goes on forever .
i had recorded the strings with a clip on mike on each instrument . we have made a different mix where we have fanned this in an intimate circle around the listener .
so as you watch this in the virtual reality headset it will be as if you are on that beach and with the 30 players sitting in a circle tightly around you
in celebration of the physical release we will premier this in the rough trade record shop . ( I LOVE ROUGH TRADE saved my life so many times ) and in ps1 you will be able to go and see it for next couple of months
hope you like it
gratitude
björk
UPDATE: Andrew Huang just emailed this statement describing the process:
We captured "Stonemilker" in November on the westernmost tip of Reykjavik, an island called Grótta on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula, which is the very site by the lighthouse where she wrote the song and recorded much of Vulnicura. After arriving in Iceland with a variety of camera gear and open minds, and after my in-depth conversations with Bjork at her home about the circular nature of the song, we spontaneously decided to shoot a performance of "Stonemilker" on the beach where it was written, using the 360 VRSE.works camera with the intent of capturing an intimate performance for virtual reality in the .
Grótta was a challenging location, as our only access to the island was a rocky narrow beach frequently covered by a swift moving tide easily stranding anyone who didn't keep watch of the clock. We only had time to plan the shoot the night before, and only 2 hours of filming due to the tide, and captured the performance in just a few takes.
Because of the all-seeing nature of this camera, my whole crew and I ducked behind boulders, leaving Bjork alone with the camera, not knowing what we would be ultimately capturing. All I remember is staring at the pearlescent purple seashells beneath my feet throughout the takes listening to her strings reverberating against the wet tidepool rocks, popping my head up occasionally to steal glances of Bjork in her duet with the camera.
The spontaneity of the experience contrasted the months of planning and designing "Black Lake," shot in Iceland only a few months before in August. My experience with Bjork that summer involved her wearing a fitted sculptural black dress, pounding her chest in frigid temperatures, reliving her separation on camera while kneeling in a jagged ravine carved away by glaciers.
The woman we found in November was much different: her home was adorned with lilac candles, the air was moist and thick with neon yellow garments hanging and the tables covered in creamy lilac latex. There was a feeling of soft, translucent skinlike textures everywhere, evoking a sense of healing, molting and nakedness. This was the new Bjork we captured in "Stonemilker".
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