Bowers & Wilkins, the British loudspeaker innovator and manufacturer, reveals the full details behind the immersive audio experience of the widely acclaimed Björk exhibition, currently showing at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Using state-of-the-art technology, including some of its most advanced speakers systems, Bowers & Wilkins has created an immersive sound experience that brings the seminal exhibition to life in mind-blowing acoustic detail.
Bowers & Wilkins P5 headphones are used to guide visitors through a seven room dynamic binaural landscape featuring an audio narrative composed by Björk and long-time collaborator Sjön – each room representing a different stage of the artist’s career.
Enveloping guests in one of the most advanced surround-sound systems to date, a 10-minute video for song Black Lake, from recent album Vulnicura, is brought to life on two large screens in a specially constructed room. 49 Bowers & Wilkins speakers, including CT800s, AM1s and subwoofers from the Bowers & Wilkins Sound System – the ground-breaking and much-lauded speaker stack that debuted at Primavera Sound festival in 2014 – combine with a Barco IOSONO audio processor to create a spatial audio ‘wave field synthesis’ experience that places visitors in a ‘virtual sound stage’ full of vivid 3D soundscapes.
‘Cinema’ – a rolling loop of Björk’s music videos from the past 30 years, uses a 5.1 sound system comprising both the Bowers & Wilkins CT800s and the highly versatile AM1s, both powered by Rotel amplification.
In addition to Black Lake, Björk has created a new psychoacoustic binaural installation called ‘Songlines’ with Icelandic poet Sjön and actress Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir. Using state-of-the-art head tracking with specially customized Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones, visitors will be treated to a unique sound journey through the seven albums and 30 years of Björk’s amazing career.
Bowers & Wilkins Brand Director Danny Haikin said, “Björk’s career has stood the test of time and it is testament to her meticulous approach to music reproduction that she is recognized as an art form by MoMA. Bowers & Wilkins is proud to collaborate with MoMA and help bring people closer to her music.”
Björk’s manager Derek Birkett said “Delivering an exhibition of this scale for a living artist can only be achieved with like-minded partners. Both Björk and Bowers & Wilkins have an appreciation for sound that borders on fanaticism and we look forward to providing extraordinary acoustic experiences for the audience.”
Finally, complementing these pieces, Björk will premiere a brand new type of experimental dynamically generated object based audio narrative, written with Icelandic poet and collaborator Sjön.
Full Bowers & Wilkins equipment list:
Headphone Tour:
350x P5 Headphones
Black Lake:
9x CT 8.2 Speakers
15x CT 8.4 Speakers
18x AM1 Speakers
3x SW15 Subwoofers
2x Sound System Subwoofers
6x SA1000 Class D Subwoofer Amplifiers
6x RMB 1575 Class D Amplifiers
4x RMB 1565 Class D Amplifiers
Björk Cinema:
3x CT 7.3 Speakers
12x AM1 Speakers
2x SW15 Subwoofers
1x SA1000Class D Subwoofer Amplifier
3x RMB 1565 Class D Amplifiers
1x RMB 1575 Class D Amplifier
For more information on the exhibition, which runs to June 7, 2015, please visit MoMA.org/bjork.
About Bowers & Wilkins
Bowers & Wilkins is a global leader for premium loudspeaker products and purveyors of “true sound” with nearly 50 years of audio heritage. Its innovative, award-winning audio products are an essential element to audio entertainment whether at home or on the move. Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are highly regarded as the definitive “audio reference”, as demonstrated by their use in leading recording studios throughout the world including London’s famed Abbey Road Studios and Skywalker Sound in California. The notion that remarkable sound must be experienced to be fully appreciated is reinforced by the company’s motto -“Listen and you’ll see.”
