Seemingly obsolete in today’s era of MP3s and iTunes, vinyl is experiencing a significant resurgence, and not just among collectors and audio purists—records and record players are increasingly popular as vehicles of expression for artists. The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl explores the intersection between visual art and music, the first museum exhibition to consider the vinyl record as both an inspiration and a material for artist production.
Examining work from 1965 to 2010, The Record brings together artists from around the world working in sound work, sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography, video, and performance.
Accompanying the exhibition is Cover to Cover—an installation featuring 7 listening stations designed by 9 artists and musicians who each curated a crate of 20 albums. Each artist’s theme and “story’ can be discovered by thumbing through bins containing original albums, examining the covers and playing the records. Visitors will peruse the crates and with headphones listen to records on record players.
The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl was organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and is curated by Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art.