The new video for Bjork’s song Wanderlust premiered last night at Deitch Studios in Long Island City; it features Bjork surfing down a river winding through a Himalayan landscape on the back of some kind of woolly yak, while a clay doppelganger bursts from her backpack to grapple with her and a quasi-Tibetan demon coaxes her toward the edge of a waterfall. Then things get really far out.
Directing duo Encyclopedia Pictura shot it in 3D with a custom made stereoscopic camera rig and a mix of live action, puppets, scale models, and computer generated animation. Bjork was on hand for the premiere last night and, after a long delay, she announced that the 3D version of the video had technical problems.
“Hardcore people” could wait around for it to be fixed, but nobody seemed to mind watching the regular version in a jerry-rigged screening room; it’s still quite stunning in two dimensions. (Ultimately, the 3D version was not shown.)
The shaggy yak from the video is on display in the gallery, along with storyboards and other set pieces. Along one wall, shelves hold ten stereoscopic viewfinders depicting 3D scenes from the production, including Bjork performing on the set.
The exhibit will be open to the public tonight only, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Deitch Projects new Long Island City space, located at 4-40 44th Drive. Promises were made that the 3D version would be screened tonight.
