Sonic visions: Björk's Future in Virtual Reality
Björk's immersive VR experience
In one of Zubr’s earliest creative experiments, we teamed up with Crack Magazine for a unique project that brought Björk’s front page into the realm of virtual reality. Coinciding with the Björk Digital exhibition at Somerset House, this WebVR experience reimagined the magazine’s Björk cover as an interactive 360° environment. Dimensionalised, dreamlike, and fully explorable, we invited fans into a world where Björk’s visionary artwork and digital innovation converged, offering a new way to engage with her evolving creative universe.
Partners
Bringing Björk’s Future to life required close collaboration between Zubr and Crack Magazine, ensuring that every element captured the essence of Björk’s boundary-pushing artistry. By seamlessly integrating manually dimensionalized artwork, particle systems, and a bespoke content management system (CMS), we created an interactive experience that reflected the otherworldly nature of Björk’s work.
This project marked our first collaboration with Crack, who approached us in 2016 during a wave of excitement around VR. With Björk’s experimental visual work making headlines and her VR pieces being showcased in London, it was the perfect moment to fuse magazine culture, music, and immersive tech into something new.
A digital dreamscape
The aim of this project was to translate Björk’s musical and visual identity into an immersive, virtual space. By reinterpreting her artwork in three-dimensional form, we built a dynamic environment where visitors could explore, interact, and engage with her latest creative endeavors through a variety of imagery, dynamic visuals, and quotes.
The front cover of Crack – featuring Björk – became the core inspiration for the VR space. We transformed its layered 2D elements into a 3D, stereoscopic dreamscape, manually building a dimensional version of the cover image. Particle systems, spatial audio, and vivid visuals made the space feel alive, echoing the ethereal, boundary – pushing nature of Björk’s world.
A key challenge was figuring out how to power the experience dynamically. After researching content delivery systems, we developed a custom workflow that translated a WordPress-based CMS into an interactive WebVR format. This enabled us to manage visuals, quotes, and assets in real time.
The hunt through Bristol
To bring the experience into the real world, we hid Google Cardboard headsets branded with Crack and Zubr designs around Bristol – turning the project into a scavenger hunt for fans. Anyone with a smartphone could access the VR space, split-screened for stereoscopic viewing, transforming everyday surroundings into a portal to Björk’s universe.
Redefining digital storytelling in music and art
Björk has always been at the forefront of music and technology, and Björk’s Future was a natural extension of her pioneering spirit. By merging VR, interactive media, and artistic storytelling, this project demonstrated how digital environments can elevate artistic expression, allowing audiences to explore sound and vision in an entirely new way.
Although the original microsite is no longer live, Björk’s Future stood as a bold step in redefining how musicians and artists can engage audiences. By combining interactive design, web VR, and a little experimentation, the project offered a new way to experience music and visual art – pushing the boundaries of digital storytelling.
