If you are at all familiar with Björk and her work as an artist, then her newest theatrical production’s incredible aesthetic grandeur will come as little surprise.
New York City’s brand new theater, “The Shed,” chose none other than the avant-garde artist Björk to perform as their marquee act, and her show, Cornucopia, is the result, giving her full run of the theater’s cutting edge stage space.
With the assistance of Argentinian film director Lucrecia Martel and fashion house Balmain, Björk builds out a visual experience as psychedelic as the songs she sings throughout it. Pulling from her album Utopia, Björk gives a dramatic and laudably artistic performance in grand costumes and memorable scenery.
With the help of multiple hand-chosen acts of notable import, including the Hamrahlid Icelandic Children’s Choir and a female flute septet named Viibra, whose fascinating appearances on stage include playing a massive circular flute suspended from the ceiling, Björk drags imaginative imagery and sound into waking reality. Rolling Stone reports the show’s memorable moments as a mixture of audio-visual effects ranging from “Phosphorescent lichen” to “fleshy constructs [that] writhed like cosmic vulvas.”
Huge set pieces yield a visual experience akin to Disney’s Fantasia, comprised of symbols for nature’s great many wonders at the behest of long-time environmentalist, Björk herself.
The Guardian reports, Cornucopia displays strong overtones on environmental consciousness and a closing message by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on the impending threat of climate change. In addition to these imperatives, Björk weaves in another message – that of harmony and assistance among women.
The show itself is set to run from May to the 1st of June 2019.
