I’ve had this idea for a while, inspired by the many musical contraptions I saw at Nam June Paik’s exhibition in the Tate Modern last year, especially the Record Shishebab. The Shishkebab is a contraption featuring a selection of random records along a pole which twists like a Turkish kebab, the user can place the extended arm on any level they wish.
In my version, the records are fractured and reconstructed using glue. It’s new form is jagged and splintered. When snapping the records, I found some were more brittle than others, which affected the shape of the shards that snapped off – some broke quite cleanly whilst others were very ridgid, making them harder to combine with the other shards. I’d like to retry this using some machinery (like a jigsaw and sanding belt) so I have more control, since the irregular shapes meant there were gaps between the shards in which the needle would get caught when playing.
This is the audio I recorded when playing the record – unfortunately there was a lot of background white noise which I have attempted to remove. To get a better recording, I may need to invest in a device that will allow my computer to connect directly with the record player. The record would only play in very short bursts before getting caught, so I have edited out the time in which I reapply the needle.
