The Vinyl Factory first collaborated with Kelly to commission and stage his installation RUIN, produced in collaboration with Virgil Abloh, at 180 Studios in 2017. 180 Studios subsequently staged Kelly’s Columns installation as part of the exhibition Future Shock (2022), the soundtrack to which, composed by electronic musician Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner, is released here.
An organic shaped die cut peephole is cut into the front of the sleeve as a homage to Marcel Duchamp’s final work Étant donnés (1946-1966) – a gateway to another world. The peephole reveals one of Ben’s orange columns and plinth with a gloss varnish on a black background. On removing the inner sleeve the statement: “CONCERNING THE BUILDING OF THESE COLUMNS WE HAVE NO CERTAIN NEWS” is revealed, printed on a Pigeon Blue background.
The rear of the inner sleeve contains a printed transcription of a conversation surreptitiously recorded via dictation, complete with mistakes and mishearing’s, between Kelly and Scanner. The transcription has produced a mashup version of the true conversation which has been printed in full. Across the two sides of the inner sides of the gatefold, a vertical full colour printed collage of columns, taken from the FALLING COLUMNS digital installation.
The rear of the sleeve contains a printed essay by Brian Dillon, beginning with a quote from Francesco Colonna, Hypnerotomachia (1499). This essay was originally commissioned by Ben to accompany his COLUMNS installation in 2022. A Chocolate Grinder is printed on the silver mirror board on the rear of the gatefold above the VF logo.
Scanner’s work traverses the experimental terrain between sound, space, and image. His diverse body of work includes soundtracks for films, performances, radio, dance, theatre and site-specific intermedia installations. Committed to working with cutting edge practitioners he has collaborated with Carsten Nicolai, Wayne MacGregor, Laurie Anderson, Hussein Chalayan, and Mike Kelley.
Take a listen here : https://scanner.bandcamp.com/album/columns
| Client | The Vinyl Factory |
| Date | 2024 |
