Performative Provocateur: Björk’s eco-feminist fantastical worlds as speculative spaces of fashion

Abstract

Björk's Cornucopia (2019-) presents a conceptual music performance that defies the conventional global arena tour. In this speculative sci-fi worlding, Björk applies an interdisciplinary practice to intertwine fashion, scenography, and technology as visual components for storytelling. The overarching narrative of Cornucopia presents a utopian vision of a future that harmonises nature, humans, and multiple species. This essay analyses the post-human world of Cornucopia through an eco-feminist perspective. Björk refutes social and cultural constructs of the female form and the misogynistic parading of the female performer. She occupies space beyond the perimeter of her body, remapping and reconceiving femininity. The analysis defines the costumes and set design as key to the dramaturgy of Cornucopia's through three main elements: body, space, and technology. Through a visual analysis, the paper reveals the ambiguity of the delineation and intersections of body-fashion-interior.  I argue for the importance of a spatio-visual critique to examine the intersection of fashion and spatial design, and how this provides a unique insight into the eco-feminist, fantastical world of Cornucopia as a Speculative Space for Fashion