Artists ‘Spin’ old vinyl and cassettes into new works

PROFILE. Still got boxes of old vinyl records and cassettes tucked away in dusty corners of your basement or closet? Perhaps you should be thinking of them more as fertile ground for artistic expression and nostalgia instead of junk.

At least that’s what the people behind the new art exhibit “Spin” at Rescue Apparel and Accessories in Allston have been up to.

Organized by Glovebox, a local non-profit art group that helps artists find non-traditional spaces to exhibit their work, “Spin” is one in a series of themed shows they put on throughout the year.
“The theme of this show is one of dedication to how things used to be and how far technology has come in such a short time,” says Glovebox artist Kevin Hebb. “Cassettes and vinyl records were chosen as canvasses for their classic iconography and simplicity.”

Featuring the work of more than 20 artists, the show displays a broad swath of medium and material, all specifically made with, or conceptually drawn from the idea of these utilitarian musical objects. Once familiar and every day, their increasing obsolescence can’t help but imbue the cassettes and vinyl with a sense of the passage of time.

Glovebox co-founder Jodie Baehre’s piece “White Noise” illustrates that point well. “I decided to focus on the actual cassettes,” she explains. “I had planned a couple of pieces, but the all white series looked so sleek and shiny. Many people thought they were ceramic because of the EnviroTek (an environmentally safe resin) used to finish them.”

Indeed the altered cassette tapes give off such a bright, simplistically designed glow, they resemble iPods. That temporal disconnect is probably part of the point.

For her piece “Audi Alteram Partem” her partner Liz Comperchio took a more abstract collage approach.

“I was focusing on words that have to do with sound,” she says. “Listening, and or experiencing music and or life. The Italian phrase ‘Che cosa suona come?’ translates to ‘What does it sound like?’ I have an image of a cowboy wrangling cattle with the phrase ‘audi alterum parem: hear the other side’ which is ambiguous in its intended meaning.”

“Is it referring to the show theme, or the act of the cowboy and the bull?” she asks. “Is it addressing a language barrier that the piece explores? We are given a set of sensory features and we distribute them without thinking ‘where or how else could I experience this?’ In what ways can I truly hear something?”

While you may not be able to hear anything from these cassettes and records anymore, perhaps with this exhibit you might be able to truly see them for the first time.

‘SPIN’
Through March 29
Rescue
252 Brighton Ave., Allston
MBTA: Green B Line to Harvard Ave.
Free, 617-202-3838
www.gloveboxboston.com