Björk has revealed plans for a new book that will capture and chronicle her five-year ‘Cornucopia’ tour. Titled ‘Cornucopia: The Book’, it serves as a tangible tribute to the artist’s groundbreaking tour, which evolved through various forms over the past five years. Set for release on 15th November, the 480-page book features more than 300 photographs by Santiago Felipe.
Björk wrote of ‘Cornucopia: The Book’ on social media: “Before this tour, I spent a decade working with 360-degree sound and visual software in virtual reality and animation, creating ‘Biophilia’, the first app album, and later ‘Vulnicura’ as a VR album. I was deeply inspired by the idea of a fully-immersive experience, spending a spring in an Icelandic lighthouse, spreading Utopia into fully surround speakers. My intention was to bring what we had created for 21st-century VR into a 19th-century theatre—taking it from the headset to the stage.”
She continued: “This vision was realized with 27 moving curtains that captured projections on different textures and LED screens, creating a digitally animated show: a modern lanterna magica for live music. I also wanted to feature bespoke instruments: a magnetic harp, an aluphone, a circular flute, and a reverb chamber, specially built with an audio architect to enhance the most intimate version of a performance—in a personal chapel.”
In addition to documenting the spectacle and technical intricacies of the ‘Cornucopia’ tour, the upcoming book weaves in a narrative: “Throughout this tale, there is a subplot woven in: a second story of an avatar—a modern marionette who alchemically mutates, from puppet to puppet, from the injury of a heart wound to a fully healed state.”
Image Courtesy: Rolling Stone MENA
The announcement follows Björk’s recent teasers of a climate-focused concert film accompanying the ‘Cornucopia’ tour. Filmed during the European leg in Lisbon, Portugal, the movie highlights Björk’s activism surrounding the climate crisis.
In a statement crafted as a poem, the singer expressed the importance of the project: “It is an emergency, in order to survive as a species we need to define our utopia. The Paris climate accord is a modern utopia impossible to imagine, but overcoming our environmental challenges is the only way we can survive.”
Additional information about the film is anticipated to be revealed by the end of this year.
–Silviya.Y