Recorded sound hasn't existed as a physical object for very long, and no sooner does it arrive than it starts to slip away. One hundred and twenty odd years may seem like a long time when the records you bought last month felt outdated last week, but it's a brief moment in the history of sound. Although vinyl will likely remain, every other format is staring down a disembodied digital future.
For most of our lives sound has been something we could run down to the shops to buy, take home and own, and it still occupies quite a bit of space on our shelves. Starting Thursday night at Shunt Vaults a new installation from Aleksander Kolkowski entitled Horatio Oratorio will explore the history of sound as a material object as well as its transition away from it.
Employing antique gramaphones and wax cylinder phonographs as well as modern digital techniques, Kolkowski's trio featuring Federico Reuben on live electronics and Sebastian Lexer on sound diffusion will play on both Thursday and Friday nights. Friday night ends with a party featuring 78rpm DJing, which we're fairly certain will make it the only gig in town spinning wax that fast. Although the installation will continue on auto-pilot from 16–19 July, we recommend finding time to see it this week with a performance by its creator.
Horatio Oratorio at Shunt Vaults. From 10–11 July, the installation opens at 6pm and performances start at 8pm. The installation continues without live performances 16–18 July from 6pm–12am and 19 July from 8pm–12am. A day membership at Shunt Vaults costs £5 on Wednesday and Thursday and £10 on Friday and Saturday.
Photo of Aleksander Kolkowski courtsey of Sprawl.