Such a smart image, abstract at first glance and so simple once you know what you are looking at – an old vinyl record half way pulled out of an album sleeve! To me, the image is evocative of different things: personal teenage memories, the mutual tradition of analog reproduction of music and photography and the large non-textual share in communication of both visual and audible arts.
When I was a young boy, my father would make me listen to a lot of music – played on vinyl records spinning on a turntable at 33 1/2 rpm. Classical music mostly, but also Neue Musik, Schönberg, Rihm. Whenever I would ask why he thought a specific piece of music was interesting or why he liked it, he would always reply: “It is hard to put in words. It is just like looking at a painting! You simply have to look or listen! Most of what is being said here can not be put into words. If all could be put in words, there would be no need for music or paintings, literature would be enough!” Now, maybe he just didn’t want to be bothered or was too lazy to explain, but to me it explained the close relation between the emotional, intuitive sensation of looking at pieces of art and listening to pieces of music. And because words are mostly not enough, this will actually be my only statement throughout my curation of the “Guest Room” this month. In individual cases, if provided by the photographer, I will maybe quote from the artist statement. But I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has submitted work. I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of images. I worked through over 4500 pictures and will be able to publish roughly 40 or 50 here. Needless to say that there were many more that would have been worth showing!