Björk’s latest video uses VR to up the weird factor

By Chris Leo Palermino December 21, 2015

björk: stonemilker (360 degree virtual reality)

Innovative artist and multi-instrumentalist Björk wants fans to explore the video for her song Stonemilker in virtual reality. Released as an iPhone and iPad app, Björk: Stonemilker VR turns the video of the singer performing on Iceland’s rocky seaside into a 360-degree virtual reality cinema experience. The Andrew Huang-directed 3D video (below), which is the basis of the new app, was initially only viewable at Björk’s March retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, before debuting on YouTube this summer.

Huang explained to Dazed (via Rolling Stone) that the Stonemilker video’s goal was intimacy — and giving Björk the opportunity to perform on a stage with no boundaries. “The shoot was spontaneous, decided in a late-night conversation between me and Björk while we had VR gear with us in Iceland,” continued the director. “The cyclical format of the 360-degrees was perfect for the circular fugue structure of ‘Stonemilker.'”

Stonemilker is the first track off of Björk’s ninth studio album Vulnicura released this year. The record, about breaking up with longtime partner and father of her child Matthew Barney, is one of her most personal. “If there’s one album I don’t know much about, it’s this one,” said Björk to The Guardian. She further explained that she wrote the record to help get through the trying time in her life. “There was nothing in my subconscious that would let me fast-forward and just write a disco song.”

Björk: Stonemilker VR is designed to be viewed using virtual reality glasses which hold iPhone 5, 6, or 6 plus model styles, such as Google Cardboard. It features a special string arrangement, “immersive sound” and can also be viewed without a VR accessory. The app is available in the iTunes App Store for $3.

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Chris Leo Palermino

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…

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