Artist News Digital Releases

Björk launches virtual reality iPhone app

By | Published on Tuesday 22 December 2015

Björk

Björk has launched her 360° virtual reality film for her song ‘Stonemilker’ as an app for iOS users. Filmed in Iceland by director Andrew Thomas Huang, the video was originally released on YouTube earlier this year.

Says the musician of the video: “This came about as a spontaneous fruit of mine and Andrew Huang’s collaboration. We found ourselves 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”.

Andrew Thomas Huang adds: “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 Björk 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 round”.

“Because of the all-seeing nature of this camera” he continues, “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 Björk in her duet with the camera”.

You can download the app, and view the video in either ‘magic window’ mode or in full VR with a headset.



READ MORE ABOUT: