Experimental Icelandic singer Bjork has been known to test out new technology in creating her music, such as when she hosted the world’s first virtual reality and 360-degree live stream during a concert in late June. During that performance, she wore a hairy black and white mask made from a 3D printer.
The Rottlace mask was designed by Neri Oxman and MIT’s Mediated Matter group. The team of designers based the mask off of Björk’s musculoskeletal system, which they modeled using a 3D facial scan, to show her soft tissue, muscle and bone structures that controlled her voice while performing. The mask is made out of many different materials, each with a different texture meant to mimic the different parts of Björk’s musculoskeletal system. For example, hard materials were used to represent bone, while more pliable materials were used to depict tissues when making the mask.
Rottlace is just one of many masks used in Björk’s shows made by 3D-printing company Stratasys through a multi-material printing technique. A moth paper mask will also be included in a box set of Vulnicura Live, which will be shipped in September.
Rottlace, or “skinless” in Icelandic, is meant to represent Björk’s ideas about healing and expressing herself when creating her album Vulnicura. She previously used 3D printing to create a dress during a Björk Digital Exhibition at Carriageworks in Sydney from June 4-18.
See Björk’s Rottlace mask here.