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01 July 2011
Academics collaborate with Björk to produce musical history
Academics from the University of Sheffield have been working with Icelandic music sensation Björk to create her ambitious new project, Biophilia.
Björk is launching Biophilia throughout July, starting with a world premiere at the Manchester International Festival (30 June – 17 July 2011). Biophilia is a multimedia project, comprising a studio album, apps, a new website, custom-made musical instruments, live shows and educational workshops.
Björk has collaborated with app developers, scientists, writers, inventors, musicians and instrument makers to create a unique multi-media exploration of the universe and its physical forces - particularly those where music, nature and technology meet. The project is inspired by and explores these relationships between musical structures and natural phenomena, from the atomic to the cosmic.
The album's lead single, Crystalline, is available on iTunes now, with Biophilia Apps released through from One Little Indian.
Dr Nicola Dibben from the University of Sheffield's Department of Music worked with Björk in creating Biophilia. Dr Dibben explained her involvement in the project: "I've been working on Björk's Biophilia since September 2010 when she contacted me to ask if I would collaborate on the project.
"In collaboration with Björk I have written musical analyses (short essays) that form part of each app she is releasing. We did this to draw out the links between her music, newly invented instruments, and the nature-science topic of each song and app. The apps allow the user to learn about the music-science topic and about aspects of music. For example, the song and app Crystalline links the spatial relationships in crystal structures with song forms and structure in music. I am also contributing to the Biophilia music school, a series of week-long educational workshops for children. I will be part of the team introducing children to Björk's scientific and musical inspirations for Biophilia, in preparation for them to create music themselves.
"From my perspective as a musicologist, Biophilia is a fantastic opportunity to show that music-making can be spontaneous and that music theory can be understood intuitively - it doesn't need to be dry or abstract. Being part of this project has meant I can apply my knowledge of and research into how music communicates ideas about the relationship between humans, nature and technology, and bring them to a much broader audience."
Dr Anil Sahal from the University of Sheffield's Department of Biomedical Sciences will be providing the scientific input to the Biophilia Music School, holding workshops with children looking at the science behind Björk's inspirations, including DNA, lunar phases and singing Tesla-coils.
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