Re-imagined Record Covers

Years ago, I created an online collage application, the Pop-o-matic. It offered a set of simple layouts along with a set of pop culture images gathered from various sources. It simply randomly placed images into a selected layout. The user, or artist, could then interactively refine the selections until satisfied with the result. Then the work could be published to the website with a title, artist name, and description -- in short, a framework for artistic exploration.

Nearly two thousand works were created and posted. Needless to say, it was fulfilling to see people use the application and I enjoyed the works they created.

A few years ago, I started making things out of old vinyl records. Of course, along with the vinyl you get the covers. I liked the dated imagery and the simpler approach to music promotion. The covers seemed to be a great source of material for collage works.

For a conceptual framework, I decided to create cover art for songs, and performers, that do not exist.

Instead of scanning bits of album covers and recharging the Pop-o-matic, I decided to create a real world counterpart. A stamp was built to lay down a basic grid structure. Eventually I found that using the back covers of LPs were a good foundation. I retained the square format of an album cover, albeit a little smaller. So, all of the subsequent works are built on the same basic structure. In a way, I see this as a parallel to the basic 3 chord harmony found in popular music. Layers are built up using squares and rectangles cut from the fronts of the covers. These add color, rhythm and content to the compositions -- much like building up a popular song from a basic harmony.

To continue with the song analogy, I feel that I improvise with the original album designer. Taking visual elements and reinterpreting them. I generally build up a collage from the original back cover layout by simplifying certain parts, obscuring or modifying others, and sometimes keeping a few intact. This converts the original design elements into a sketch of sorts, ultimately functioning as palimpsest in the final work.

Popular songs generally have lyrics. In my collages, I play around with the form of words -- abstracting them or combining them in a Burroughs-esque cut up style. Sometimes I let some phrases rise to the top from the underlying original content -- usually re-contextualized.

Finally, to reinforce the cover art theme, each work has a pronounced title embedded in the work -- although this is rarely the title of the artwork.

For me, the album cover was a gateway into the world of visual art. So these works pay homage to those artists and their work.

June 12, 2014