Sofia Ek’s The Minefield Girl takes on a stimulatory literary hybrid in her new audiovisual book that is something more of a psychedelic and emotional experience.
The Minefield Girl is a memoir and compilation of Ek’s experiences working as a businesswoman in Libya at the height of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Ek brought her book more to life by collaborating with 18 artists through the digital art platform, Blackdove. Through the collaboration, a series of moving image art pieces mirror Ek’s story and set a visual context for the listener.
Additionally, Ek collaborated with Buttons NY and Visisonics to create a 3-D sound design to help further express her deeply emotional experience in Libya.
Ek recently hosted an audiovisual experience at The Lightbox in New York City to celebrate the launch of The Minefield Girl ‘s audiovisual version this past Wednesday.
The immersive event acted as an insight into the experiences one can find once the audiovisual book launches on Spotify’s new platform, Spotlight on February 1st.
A white-box style room with paneled projections of the video graphics coated the walls. There was a seemingly eerie juxtaposition betwixt some of the utopian-esque graphics and the suspenseful tone set by the music and heart-thumping drumbeat.
As the story progressed and heightened, the graphics followed suit. At one point, it looked as if the entire room had been caught in pixelated flames. Visuals of Gaddafi’s head floating about with white wings and a golden headpiece or a video game structured sequence with an avatar running through a maze were just a few of the graphics that heightened the listener’s experience.
It seemed visually clear that there were various artists that contributed to the piece, especially as each sequence changed, but they all still seemed to flow rather harmoniously and effortlessly. The auditory aspects acted more like a seamless thread that tied all of the additional sensory experiences together.
Celebrity appearances at Ek’s event were made by John Legend, Adrien Brody, Nick Jonas, Tory Burch, Diane Von Furstenberg, Dasha Alexandrovna Zhukova, Julie Greenwald, Maxwell, Hailee Steinfeld, Emmy Rossum, Camila Alves, Jack Antontoff, Randi Zuckerberg, Chris Rock, and of course, actress Camilla Belle, who acted as the voice behind The Minefield Girl‘s audiobook.
The evening was also presented by LIFEWTR.
Check out our exclusive photos below taken by Christopher Pierantoni (@s0_krispy)!
The Minefield Girl is now available on Audible and Spotify.
