Rutherford Chan, the artist who collects only The Beatles' "White Album" [EDITOR'S BLOG]

Event Date:2019.03.01-08.04
May 9, 2019
Deichtorhallen Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany. Housed in a former marketplace, it is a contemporary art museum characterized by its arched glass windows. It's located near Steinstraße subway station, and is within walking distance of Hamburg Central Station and Hamburg's landmark, the Elbphilharmonie.



Deichtorhallen is currently hosting an exhibition curated by Max Dax, entitled "HYPER! A JOURNEY INTO ART AND MUSIC." Max Dax is the former editor-in-chief of German music magazines Spex Magazine and Electronic Beats Magazine. The exhibition, which explores the mutual influence of art and music, features over 60 musicians and artists, including Kim Gordon, Wolfgang Tillmans, Andreas Gursky, and Peter Saville. Have you heard of "We Buy White Albums," an installation showcasing only The Beatles' 1968 album, "The Beatles" (commonly known as the White Album), in a pure white space resembling a record store? The installation, by New York-based artist Rutherford Chang, was unveiled in New York and Indianapolis in 2013. It was also selected as one of the projects in the 8th "Exhibition Proposal Open Call" sponsored by Tokyo Wonder Site, then a public interest incorporated foundation for Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture, and exhibited at Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo (now Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo) in January 2015. The simple, all-white jacket, designed by Richard Hamilton, features a serial number in the corner of each disc, satirizing the tens of thousands of copies of a hit album. Rutherford Chan bought one of these for $1 at a garage sale when he was 15 years old, and since then he has continued to collect only numbered records, and now has a collection of over 2,000 records (his official website lists the number as 2,295).Today, as if it were his life's work, he continues to post "The White Album" every few days on his Instagram account (@webuywhitealbums).

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by We Buy White Albums (@webuywhitealbums) -



The floor, walls, and exposed shelves are all white, along with a neon sign reading "WE BUY WHITE ALBUM" and two record players. Boxes are lined with copies of The White Album, arranged in order of serial number, allowing visitors to browse, select, and listen to them. It's like a record store, but only The White Album is available, and copies are available for purchase, not sale.








In addition to the installation, the artist has also presented a mix of 100 copies of The White Album LP from Rutherford Chan's collection, played together. In the 24-minute excerpt from side A that can be heard here, the sound begins to go out of sync around the second track, "Dear Prudence," and by the end it's something approaching noise. Even though it's the same album being played, distortions and twists emerge. The time and pulse of the album, once possessed by various owners around the world, are brought to light, and a new story emerges.




AUDIO THE SOUND OF HYPER! ON SPOTIFY




[Exhibition information]
HYPER! A JOURNEY INTO ART AND MUSIC
Duration: March 1st - August 4th
Location: Deichtorhallen Hamburg (HALL FOR CONTEMPORARY ART)
Address: Deichtorplatz 1, Hamburg
URL: https://www.deichtorhallen.de/



編集部
Back to Top