The Record coming to ICA/Boston

Spinning concentric circles around art, music and design, The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl unites 41 contemporary artists in an exhibition documenting the past 50 years of vinyl. According to Trevor Schoonmaker, Curator at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the show reinforces the importance of the record as an ever-relevant medium “at a time when downloadable digital files are replacing the once-popular compact disc and vinyl sales are experiencing a significant resurgence.” 

From Laurie Anderson (below right) to Carrie Mae Weems, artists in the exhibition respond to the influence of the record as a timeless, cultural icon through sound, sculpture, video, installation and other multi-disciplinary work. The show will be traveling to the ICA/Boston on April 15.

Featured works include David Byrne’s original Polaroid montage for the Talking Heads(above left), a photo essay by Xaviera Simmons, and Jasper Johns’s ”Scott Fagan Record,” along with fictional album art by Mingering Mike.  

“Making a picture of a vinyl record was enlightening in the sense that it is such a beautifully and perfectly round subject,” wrote Ed Ruscha of “Unidentified Hit Record” (above), which also will be on view.  

While the show will certainly interest record collectors, artists insist the record should not be fetishized as an object solely to be preserved. Christian Marclay, who has worked with records for over 30 years and recently tiled the floor of P.S. 1 with vinyl last spring, will exhibit his cracked and reconstructed, “Recycled Records” from the 1980′s with Dario Robleto, who melted and molded Billie Holiday’s music into tiny colorful buttons.    

Accompanying the show, artists will also select a crate of records to tell a story for the “Cover to Cover” project. Carlo McCormick raised a key point about the show noting that, ”what is rarely conveyed when we look at art is that artists rarely work in silence.”

If you cannot see the exhibition in person, check out the 216 page illustrated-catalog with essays by Piotr Orlov, Carlo McCormick, Charles McGovern, Mark Anthony Neal, Josh Kun, Vivien Goldman, Mac McCaughan, Jeff Chang, Jennifer Kabat, Barbara London, Dave Tompkins and Luc Sante. For more, visit the exhibition site.

Image credits:  1. Jeroen Diepenmaat, “Pour des dents d’un blanc éclatant et saines,” 2005. Record players, vinyl records, stuffed birds, sound. Dimensions variable. 2. David Byrne, “More Songs About Buildings and Food,” 1978. Polaroid SX-70 prints (photomontage for album cover), 90 x 90 inches. Laurie Anderson, “Laurie Anderson Playing Viophonograph,” 1977. Black and white photograph by Bob Bielecki, 11 x 14 inches. 3. Ed Ruscha, “Unidentified Hit Record,” 1977. Pastel and dry pigment on paper. Framed, 28.5 x 34.5 inches. 4. Christian Marclay, “Recycled Records” series (one of eight), 1983. Collaged vinyl records, 10 inches diameter. 5. Dario Robleto, “Sometimes Billie Is All That Holds Me Together,” 1998–99. Hand-ground and melted vinyl records, various clothing, acrylic, spray paint.