Björk has announced Cornucopia: The Book, a 480-page, high-quality picture book that chronicles her celebrated Cornucopia Tour – an ambitious live experience featuring imagery and projections by director Tobias Gremmler, performed with The Hamrahlíð Choir, alongside other musical and visual artists.
The book is 22x30x4cm approx. and features 313 colour images. Softcover with flaps, sewn sections, printed in HUV-offset and fluorescent colours on hi-gloss paper with gloss varnish. It includes a 16-page booklet.
Björk says; “I’m proud to announce the release of Cornucopia: The Book. This book documents my five-year tour, Cornucopia, designed by M/M Paris, with images shot by photographer Santiago Felipe.
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.
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.
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. I hope you enjoy it.”
Last year, The Association of Independent Music (AIM) crowned Björk Best Live Performer for her Cornucopia tour.
Björk is a multidisciplinary artist who, time and again, innovates across music, art, fashion and technology. From writing, arranging and producing an expansive music catalogue to her collaborations with scientists, app developers, writers, inventors, musicians and instrument makers, Björk continues to inspire and experiment, redefining the boundaries of what it means to be a musician.
Photo credit: Santiago Felipe
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