Björk Announces “Immersive Auditory Experience” In Paris About The Environment
Björk loves the Earth. Last year, she and Rosalía released a single together to protest Icelandic fish farming, and she narrated a documentary about fungi, which were also a focus of her 2022 album Fossora. And today, Björk has announced “Nature Manifesto,” a sound installation you can soon check out at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The three-minute, 40-second piece is presented as part of the forum “Biodiversity: Which culture for which future?,” and will be open from Nov. 20 to Dec. 9. It’s meant to create “an immersive auditory experience reflecting current environmental challenges, prompting us to rethink our connection with nature and our role in its preservation.” Björk worked on the music with fellow Icelandic artist Aleph, and in a joint statement, they explain:
We would like to share our “Nature Manifesto,” a sound installation at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Produced in collaboration with the IRCAM using AI software, this immersive sound piece gives endangered and extinct animals a voice by merging their sounds with our words. We wanted to share their presence in an architecture representing the industrial age, far away from nature. In the veins of the escalator of the museum, known as the “caterpillar,” we wanted to remind citizens of the raw vitality of endangered creatures. Even though you are restlessly traveling between floors whilst listening to this soundpiece, the tone of animals’ voices hopefully builds a sonic bridge towards the listeners. And in the spirit of these animals, in the magic of how they are sensually aligned with their environment, they become our teachers! Their ghosts remind us of improving our primordial mindfulness. But we didn’t only want to talk the talk but walk the walk, so together with young environmentalists in France and Iceland, we have set up a campaign. It will launch later.
It’s not every day you read “AI software” and “endangered and extinct animals” in the same sentence. See the announcement below.
We would like to share our “Nature Manifesto,” a sound installation at the Centre Pompidou @CentrePompidou, Paris. Produced in collaboration with the IRCAM @Ircam using AI software, this immersive sound piece gives endangered and extinct animals a voice by merging their sounds… pic.twitter.com/O8yYWtjJMq
— björk (@bjork) November 12, 2024