Join us on Tuesday, February 21 to explore Björk’s Biophilia app in detail with co-developers Scott Snibbe and Max Weisel. Released in October 2011, Biophilia marries science and music not just through songs detailing humanity’s interactions with the natural world, but also with a suite of immersive iPad apps, making it the world’s first “app album.” Working with a team of multi-disciplinary designers and developers, Björk developed Biophilia as a suite of song-specific apps that can be manipulated and remixed by the individual. This immersive, hands-on approach to producing an album is nothing short of revolutionary: by using the app format, Björk encourages those listening to the album to become active participants in the music and storyline of Biophilia. The unique app format of Björk’s latest album, rich with multiple soundtracks and scores, including an animated graphic score by Stephen Malinowski, offers exciting new opportunities for music-making, sharing, and discovery.

This meetup is part of The Creators’ Project‘s role in co-presenting Björk’s Biophilia month-long residency in New York City, in collaboration with the New York Hall of Science.

Speakers:

Scott Snibbe is a media artist, filmmaker, and researcher in interactivity. Whether on mobile devices or in large public spaces, his interactive art spurs people to participate socially, emotionally, and physically. His works are based in animation, silent, and surrealist film and often mix live and filmed performances with real-time interaction. Snibbe’s artwork is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) and The Museum of Modern Art (New York); his work has been shown in several hundred solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including a solo retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. His large-scale interactive projects have been incorporated into concert tours, Olympics, science museums, airports, and other major public spaces and events, and he has collaborated on interactive projects with musicians and filmmakers including Björk and James Cameron.

Max Weisel is a software engineer and digital artist. He is one of the few developers to release an iOS app that predates the release of Apple’s App Store. He’s collaborated with Björk to produce Biophilia, the first full-length app album. In addition, his work has been featured in museums such as the MoMA.