Eno is exhibiting a new version of his illuminated record player at London’s Paul Stolper gallery.
Ambient music pioneer Brian Eno recently unveiled Turntable II—an updated version of Turntable, the illuminated record player he debuted in 2021. As generative art, the turntable offers an ethereal expression of form and function. “When it doesn’t have to do anything in particular, like play a record, it is a sculpture” Eno explains.
Brian Eno’s Turntable II is made up of a round platter and base, which change colors to create … [+]
As a functional turntable, the player is made up of a platter and base that plays both 33 and 45rpm vinyl. As generative art, the platter and base are made of translucent acrylic, each fitted with LED lights that change colors independently, creating combinations of ‘colorscapes’. The pattern of lights, the speed at which they change, and how they change are programmed to rotate randomly and slowly.
As a functional record player, Turntable II plays both 33 and 45rpm vinyl.
“I use the same sorts of generative processes in music as in painting, based on overlapping unsynchronised cycles,” Eno explains. “Several overlapping light cycles will keep producing different color balances and blends—and different shadow formations that slowly evolve and never exactly repeat.”
“It’s the softness of these colors and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive.” – … [+]
Tuntable II reflects Eno’s lifelong work creating experiential projects that fuse music and visuals. He notes that since his “first experiments with light and sound in the late 1960’s, I’ve never ceased to be fascinated by the amazingly intricate, complex and unpredictable results produced by simple deterministic systems.”
Turntable II is on view at Paul Stolper gallery now through March 9, 2024.
For Eno, the Turntable series offers a visual experience that has “some of the qualities of musical experiences—that’s to say, that existed and changed in time… to blur the edges that separate those different forms…It’s the softness of these colors and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive.”
Brian Eno, Turntable II, is limited to an edition of 150 worldwide, launch price £20,000 ex VAT, available from Paul Stolper Gallery, 31 Museum St, London WC1A 1LH. On view now through March 9, 2024 at Paul Stolper Gallery.
