From the jagged, volcanic, icy fjords of Iceland, Björk Guðmundsdóttir—known simply by her stage name Björk—has descended on the world of popular music over the past five decades with a sensual, otherworldly presence. Her music is constantly of the moment but also seemingly years ahead of its time with a starkly alarming prescience, especially regarding the human impact on nature and the climate. Today, she presents Cornucopia, streaming on Apple TV, a cinematic encapsulation of a “digital theater” tour extravaganza that is the culmination of dozens of shows across multiple continents (a full-length version of the film will be released in theaters later this year). With a focus on the current climate crisis, Björk told us that Cornucopia utilizes the power of sci-fi and fantasy—in the vein of writers like Octavia Butler—to imagine an unimaginable future: “We will do it with any means: activism, politics, but I think one thing which is quite important also is our imagination.” A gesamtwerk of audio, visuals, and digital avatars, Cornucopia imagines this new “post-optimistic” future using music as a template. She carves into mountains of obstinance and indifference to build a pathway for hope. She imagines the first dawn after a disaster with an orchestral of flutes and choral jubilation. Amidst the devastation of the fires ravaging the landscapes of Los Angeles and the denial of climate change, the film becomes even more dire in its global message. As for the songs, Björk mines her oeuvre as a solo artist—she looks forward by looking back—as she stands beneath her avatars projected on moving curtains. She also told us this process is not new: “I've been doing the same thing over and over again, which is to tear off all the unnecessary luggage of each album or each period, and see what attaches to a live performance now and what is current now.” Cornucopia, which she calls a "modern lanterna magica" for live music, includes “Isobel” from her 1995 album Post to "Hidden Place" from her 2001 album Vespertine, and tracks from 2017’s Utopia and 2023’s Fossora. With incredible stage direction by Lucretia Martel and original visuals by Tobias Gremmler, the concert and film utilizes a wide range of bespoke musical instruments and audio architecture, from a magnetic harp, an aluphone, a circular flute, and a reverb chamber in a personal chapel. Björk expressed that working with 360-degree sound and visual software is not new—Biophilia (2011) was released with an app with songs and narration by naturalist David Attenborough, and Vulnicura (2015) came with a VR component. For Cornucopia, she brings these 21st-century technologies back into the 19th century. Once again, Björk proves that she can move backward and forward in time and peel away the binaries of our traditional understanding of the world. Ultimately, Cornucopia is a highly moving cinematic musical experience that breaks away from the constructs of conventional concert films. We are immersed, we are moved, we are weeping.
You can also purchase the Cornucopia Book here with images by Santiago Felipe
Editor’s note: these quotes are from an upcoming larger collaboration with the artist.