Visionaire #53: Sound [2007]

9781888645682

If you close your eyes, what sense takes over? Do you consume the world in sound bites? Are you moved by the art of noise? Issue 53 of Visionaire--produced this time around in collaboration with the British car manufacturer, MINI--is dedicated to the theme of Sound. Packaged inside a specially produced domed case, it consists of five 12-inch vinyl records, imprinted with images (picture discs), that together contain more than 100 minutes of sound content--from audio experiments to unreleased songs, samples and spoken word pieces. Also included is a MINI Clubman "Vinyl Killer" record player: a battery-operated toy car, containing speakers and a needle.

As the little car moves along a record's groove, it plays each track, acting as a fully portable record player and sound system. Beyond all this, the issue also includes two CDs with all of the sound content gathered digitally, as well as a booklet of credits and instructions.

Contributors include: musicians David Byrne, Courtney Love, Michael Stipe, Adam Horowitz (Beastie Boys), Antony & the Johnsons, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Karl Bartos (Kraftwerk), Andrew WK, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Danger Mouse, Malcolm McLaren, Ruyuichi Sakamoto; artists Robert Wilson, Yoko Ono, Christian Marclay, Doug Aitken, Gary Hill, Sylvie Fleury; DJs Miss Kittin, Trevor Jackson, Towa Tei, Michel Gaubert; fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Helmut Lang; bands Littl'Ans, Fischerspooner, Unkle, Animal Collective, SunnO))) and many more.

From Visionaire: 53 SOUND arrives as a set of five 12-inchdouble-sided vinyl records, boasting artwork by Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo Raymond Pettibon, and Ryan McGinley, among others. The records feature sound by musicians David Byrne, U2, Michael Stipe, Courtney Love, Cat Power, Laurie Anderson, Adrock, Lee Ranaldo, Antony & the Johnsons, Thurston Moore & Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Malcolm McLaren; Artists Yoko Ono, Cerith Wyn Evans, Helmut Lang, Christian Marclay, Doug Aitken; Bands The Knife, Littl’ans, Unkle, Animal Collective, SunnO))), Gang Gang Dance; Fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, Stefano Pilati; and many more. The issues come complete with a MINI “vinyl killer” — a toy car equipped with needle and speakers that play the contents by “driving” the records.