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Bjork and an AI collaborated on an eerie soundtrack for a hotel lobby
I sat in the lobby of the Sister City hotel in downtown New York City, laying back on a comfy couch, breathing as deeply as I could. Bjork stayed here for a month last year. I thought that maybe if I breathed hard enough, I could absorb some of her essence.
Björk and Microsoft use AI to create music that changes with the sky
Björk is no stranger to using technology to express her music in more inventive ways, but now she's using it to shape the music itself in unexpected forms. The Icelandic star is using Microsoft AI as part of Kórsafn ("choral archives"), a non-stop composition playing in the lobby of the Sister City hotel in New York City. The project plays selections from Björk's many choral arrangements (including new ones composed by the Hamrahlid Choir) based on what the AI sees in the sky through a rooftop camera. It'll react based on different cloud types, the behavior of birds, passing aircraft and even barometric pressure. Long-term weather trends will gradually alter the piece, too.
Bjork's VR album is finally ready
It only took four-plus years, but Bjork's VR 'album' is finally ready. The Icelandic artist is releasing the complete version of Vulnicura VR through Steam on September 6th, giving PC owners a single place to experience 360-degree visuals available in the digital museum collection and beyond. This includes seven of the tracks from the album (including "Stonemilker," "Lionsong" and "Black Lake") with a 360-degree score composed by Stephen Malinowski.
Bjork's next album comes with free cryptocurrency
Icelandic music star Bjork is famously experimental with just about everything, so it's no surprise that she's now working on bringing blockchain into the music industry fold. Her people have announced that she's partnering with British startup Blockpool to put the technology at the center of her next album release, not only letting fans buy the record with cryptocurrency, but actually giving them digital cash for doing so.
Björk's VR exhibition is coming to Los Angeles
Björk is infamous for her peculiar style, and now fans in the Los Angeles area can experience that otherworldly quirkiness in 360 degrees. Björk Digital, a VR exhibition based on her 2015 album Vulnicura, is making its West Coast debut later this year, according to Fact. The LA tour stop coincides with a live performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 30th. Both are part of the Reykjavík Festival, an event highlighting the artistic contributions of Iceland's capital.
Bjork avatar appears in London via Icelandic mocap
Björk is continuing her "Vulnicura" exhibition at London, but the fact that she's in Iceland didn't stop her from appearing at Somerset House cultural center. In glorious Björk fashion, she beamed into the press conference as a colorful digital avatar to take questions alongside Somerset Director Jonathan Reekie. Meanwhile, she was back at the Icelandic Media College in Reykjavik wearing a motion capture suit, with her movements transferred to the Avatar digitally via Autodesk and Unity tech.
Bjork's VR album is a work in progress, just like the medium itself
Bjork Digital is almost Bjork: The Theme Park. The installation, which opened in Tokyo earlier this week, includes a movie theater featuring a two-hour-long showcase of the artist's videography. Around the corner from there, you'll find several tracks from the album Vulnicura have been transformed into VR experiences. Farther down the hall, you can play around with the album-turned-music app from Bjork's Biophilia album. The 18-day installation opened to the public this week, with Tokyo's Miraikan being the second stop on a world tour that also includes Europe and the US. I went for a visit and came away thinking that no other musical artist is pushing (or perhaps dragging) virtual reality forward more than Bjork. She's working on more VR tracks too -- this is really just the start.
Bjork's VR love affair grows with 'Vulnicura' exhibition
Bjork is infatuated with virtual reality. Last year, she debuted a VR music video for the song "Stonemilker" from her latest album, Vulnicura, but now she's taking this digital love fest to the next level. Bjork has transformed four songs from Vulnicura into 360-degree VR experiences for an exhibition called Bjork Digital that kicks off today in Sydney, Australia. She plans to add VR videos for the album's remaining five songs in the coming months, and the show will head to Tokyo, London, Paris, Houston and several other cities this year, Variety reports.
Bjork out-Bjorks herself with wild 360 degree VR music video
Y'all know Bjork. Besides being the sound that the Muppets' Swedish Chef makes, Bjork is also a super-talented Icelandic pop diva. She made a name for herself with off-the-wall outfits and over-the-top pageantry (looking at you, 1995's It's Oh So Quiet) and did so decades before Lady Gaga even thought of donning a meat suit. Now, Bjork's back and quirkier than ever in her latest "Stonemilker" music video. The song originally debuted back in March, however the only way to experience the 360 degree action was live at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City -- we made the trip -- or the Rough Trade shops in New York and London. But now, the video has finally made its way to the Interwebs. It's currently playing on YouTube, no VR goggles required.
Virtual reality stole my dance with Bjork
Maximum Bjorkness! That's what I came in expecting at MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's Queens-based offshoot, where the famous musician/distressing fashionista's new virtual reality exhibit is on display. "Stonemilker," a lilting, melancholy track from her new album Vulnicura, is the basis for Bjork's foray into VR. Considering the freaky name -- Stone milk? Gross. -- the harrowing emotional subject matter of her new record and the tech, you can understand why I arrived ready to get weird.
Bjork at MoMA, fight for the open internet and other stories you might've missed!
The weekend has arrived and you can catch up on all the stories you might have missed right here. Read about Bjork's new project at the NYC MoMA, how the fight for the open internet isn't over and the history behind Nintendo's mobile gaming ambitions.
Daily Roundup: Nintendo's next-gen console, an Apple TV service and more!
Catch up on today's top stories in the Daily Roundup. Nintendo talks about its next-generation console and mobile gaming. Meanwhile, Google decided to remove the steering wheel from self-driving vehicles because humans are "unreliable" and a new web television service will come to Apple TV this fall. You can find out about these stories and more past the break.
At her MoMA retrospective, first comes tech, then comes Bjork
There are two major takeaways from Bjork's much-anticipated retrospective at NYC's Museum of Modern Art: One, the vast majority of the exhibit feels more like a celebrity amusement park ride; and two, there's the occasional glimmer of ambition around the exhibit's use of technology. I suppose it's tough to contain an avant-garde pop creature like Bjork within the confines of a museum, even one that's already honored her in the past (a digital version of her last album, Biophilia, was the first app added to MoMA's permanent collection). But for someone who's embraced the exploration of technology in her music, it makes sense that the gadgetry used to enliven Bjork's exhibit ends up being the highlight of the actual exhibit.
Bjork's next music video is made for virtual reality
Let's say for a moment that the experimental Oculus VR movies that came out of Sundance didn't do anything for you, but that Icelandic songwriters totally float your boat. You're in luck because Björk's upcoming video for "Stonemilker" will be available for Oculus Rift, according to an interview with Fast Company. She says that the platform is "almost more intimate than real life" and finds it exciting in general, citing its "crazy panoramic" abilities. Don't go thinking this means she'll release an entire album for it, similar to what she did with 2011's Biophilia being released as an app, though: "I only did that album because I felt like I had content that made sense, that could relate to the technology. It can't just be working with the gadget for the sake of the gadget. But also it's about budgets. You can do apps cheaply. Apps was kind of punk, actually. It was like starting a punk band again. Filming for Oculus Rift is not."
Bjork's interactive 'Biophilia' album is the first downloadable app in MoMA's permanent collection
We've seen lots of crazy things on display at the Museum of Modern Art -- a "rain room," a sex toy that works with your phone, a sleeping Academy Award-winning actress. Now you can add "tablet app" to that list. Bjork's "Biophilia," an interactive album released on iOS and Android, has become the first downloadable app to join MoMA's permanent collection. First released in 2011 (and still available for sale), the album allows listeners to "contribute" to songs by playing with interactive on-screen visuals. In "Solstice," for instance (pictured above), the orbits actually allow you to control the string music, with the option to save and record your own version. Ultimately, it was that interactivity that earned the app a spot in the collection. "With Biophilia, Björk truly innovated the way people experience music by letting them participate in performing and making the music and visuals, rather than just listening passively," said MoMA senior curator Paola Antonelli in a blog post.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for June 13, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
First iPad app added to NYC Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection
New York City's Museum of Modern Art showcases one of the world's finest collections of modern art from across the spectrum of creation -- painting, sculpture, creative installations, and now iPad apps. MoMA has officially added added the first iPad app to its permanent collection of fine art. The app is called Biophilia and was developed by the Icelandic pop star Björk. Part music exploration and part game, players are presented with a series of mini games based around various songs Björk has written. Depending on how players manipulate the world in each mini game, the song playing chang. For example, in the game for the song "Virus" players are shown a cell being slowly attacked by a virus. Players can choose to stop the virus, but upon doing so discover that saving the cell causes the music to end. Only by allowing the virus to destroy the cell can players hear the full song, and see the end of the level. Developed with the help of several masters of interactive design, the app is challenging musically, aesthetically, and conceptually. In an article about the app, which you should certainly read, MoMA explains exactly why even an iPad app can be considered art. Biophilia is the first downloadable app in MoMA's collection. Apps-short for applications-are packaged, portable programs that are designed as products one can purchase from digital shelves. We have in the past acquired several digital artifacts, from dynamic visualizations to fonts and video games. For all of our digital acquisitions, we have established a protocol that speaks to the modalities of acquisition-code, files, videos-conservation, and display. The first apps added to the collection were John Maeda's 1994 Reactive Books, distributed on floppy disks inside old-school physical books. Even more than video games, apps are highly "collectible" because of their finite or semi-finite nature-they might be connected to live feeds and to the Web, but their infrastructure design is stable and defined, unlike that of websites. Indeed, in the case of an app like Biophilia, the only variable left open is the exquisite interaction that the artwork welcomes and invites, a testament to the equally exquisite experimental nature of the artist that conceived it. Collaboration, creativity, open-mindedness, curiosity, and endless talent are the basic ingredients of most great examples of art and design. True innovation-technological, social, performative-supported by great art is a mesmerizing gift to the world. You can download the app yourself here on the iTunes store for $12.99.
Lady Gaga to release album as iPhone, iPad app
Regular viewers of TUAW TV Live know what a HUGE Lady Gaga fan I am, so when I saw this story I jumped on the chance of bringing you the latest news about the "Queen of Pop." And this time news is Apple-related; instead of wearing a meat dress, Lady Gaga is releasing her next album Artpop as an iPhone and iPad app. She's not the first pop artist to go the app route. Björk released an "app album" last year, and Sting celebrated his 60th birthday with the recent release of Sting 25, an "appumentary" of the last 25 years of his career. While I know that all of you are ready to jump into the App Store and buy Artpop, you'll have to wait until the Spring of 2013. Gaga, in a post on her Little Monsters social networking site, said that the interactive album/app/art project/self-indulgence includes "chats, films for every song, extra music, content, gaga inspired games, fashion updates, magazines, and more." She left the best for last, though: Remember to pester Mom and Dad for an iPad for Christmas!
Daily Update for Sept. 2, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Building Björk's "Biophillia" iPad app
Creative Applications has got an interesting post on the development of Björks new app album, Biophillia, as well as the in-app purchased track, "Virus." As mentioned on TUAW a few weeks back, Björk released what she refers to as the first "app album" on the iOS App Store. The Icelandic artist is renowned for being different, particularly when it comes to her music, and the app album, Biophillia, is certainly different from most other traditional album releases. Creative Applications got in touch with Scott Snibbe -- co-creator of the app -- to get some insight into how Biophillia came about. The post includes details on the journey of the app's development, including some concept sketches by Björk and Scott, the tools used to code the app and some of the inspirational imagery behind it. While Biophillia is a free app download, users are required to purchase the songs of the album via in-app purchase as they are released, though the song "Cosmogony" comes free with the app. Each song brings with it an additional component to the world of Biophillia -- lyrics, the score, animation, credits and a blurb about the song. It's all very interactive and certainly a unique way to listen to an album. If you're a fan of Björk's Biophillia app, the post is certainly worth a read. And from an app developers point of view, it's an unique eye opener into the work that's gone on behind the scenes.
