Cork and Baltic birch are not typically associated with speaker systems. Then again, the Ceramic Speakers released by San Francisco native Joey Roth are hardly typical. Made from untreated materials, the speakers are intended to convey the beauty of ritual by taking on a personal finish through regular use. Whereas conventional speakers kowtow to the movement towards over-compression that has (sadly) become standard in music recording, the Ceramic Speakers are custom designed to draw out the detail of high-resolution recordings and the warmth of vinyl.
Roth recently gave sets of his speakers to nine artists and designers. Taking advantage of the “blank canvas” quality of their structure, they used the speakers to create works of functional art. The artists and designers then collaborated with musicians to produce tracks exclusively for their reinterpreted speaker systems.
Sounds Like will show on May 14-18 at DDCLAB. During the exhibition, the tracks will play sequentially through the related speaker systems to present each collaborative work “as an object and as a musical composition.”
Sounds Like
Opening May 17, 6-9pm
Designers showing: Sruli Recht, John Pomp, David Lynch, Stanley Ruiz, Tobias Wong, Sougwen Chung, Matthew Waldman, Sanavia Davies – Keller and Roberto Crivello
Musicians: Miho Hatori, Matmos, Ben Frost, Sepalcure, Gunung Sari