PhonoArt
by PhonoFriends
A Virtual Gallery
of Phonograph Art
This gallery features original
works of art inspired by the phonograph. Phonographia are displayed,
celebrated and even used as source materials in this selection of
mixed media creations. All pieces are held in private collections
and were created by Friends of the Phonograph.
Doug
Boilesen on the Black Rock Desert
Photographer:
Douglas Keister, Copyright ©
1990
Media: 4x5 Kodachrome
Location: Private
Collection
Description: This photograph appeared
in the book, Portraits on the Playa: The Black Rock Desert,
and it commemorates the birthday of the phonograph with DB trumpeting
to the stars to "Remember the Magic - Happy Birthday to The Phonograph!"
Portrait on the The Black Rock
Desert, Gerlach, Nevada, USA.
Amazed
and Delighted!
Media:
35mm photograph, 1982
Location:
Private Collection. 4x6 print
Description: This photograph
(top) is a re-creation of the famous oil painting (below) by Massani
in 1905. Edison used this piece (in this case as an advertising postcard)
in literally hundreds of thousands of Edison Phonograph advertisements.
The "actors"
in the 1982 re-creation are Axel and Betty Boilesen who produced this
dramatic portrait as an entry for the Friends of the Phonograph's
annual birthday party. Massani's painting was titled "The Phonograph"
but it is often called "The Old Couple."
Mary
Had a Little Lamb and TAE
Made
by: Kathy Aiken, Lincoln, NE, 1981
Media:
Needlepoint Sampler, 7"x11"
Location:
Private Collection
Description: This sampler
was a 1981 artistic entry for the Friends of the Phonograph's annual
birthday party. Besides the traditional alphabet, Kathy Aiken's sampler
features the first four lines of the nursery rhymn "Mary Had
a Little Lamb" which were the first words spoken by Edison's
tin-foil Phonograph in December 1877. The bottom row of numbers has
Thomas Alva Edison's initials TAE inserted between the 6 and 7.
Ceramic
Grooves for His Master's Voice
Made
by: Bob Gross, Oakland, CA, 1989
Media:
Ceramic and Paint, 8" diameter
Location:
Private Collection
Description: This ceramic
record was made by Bob Gross in 1989 to help
celebrate the Phonograph's birthday. It features a Victor style "His
Master's Voice" label with Nipper and the Gramophone, and a title
of "Recorded Music 1948-9".
First
Recorded Sighting of the Big Nipper
Artist:
Sheila O'Hara, Oakland, CA, 1987
Media:
Woven tapestry, 32.5" x 19.5"
Location:
Private Collection (FP1034)
Description: This
whimsical textile piece by artist Sheila O'Hara (known for her warp
sense of humor) was created in 1987 to celebrate the 110th birthday
of the Phonograph. Sheila's layered weaving technique blends multiple
colors by threading four sets of colors or warps all weaving at
once. This creates a two-sided fabric, with one weft and one layer.
Although the piece
was commissioned to celebrate Edison's cylinder playing tin-foil
phonograph "finished" on December 6, 1877, no Edison phonographs
or logos are included in this artwork. Instead, other phonograph
industry trademarks and symbols are displayed featuring the disc
record technology. The talking machine is Berliner's Gramophone
performing the dual role of a searchlight and record player. The
Victor dog "Nipper" speeds through the sky standing on
a disc record. The rival Pathe Rooster flies by on another record.The
Columbia Graphophone Company's logo "Note the Notes" is
the other piece of phonographia floating in the cosmos.
The disc technology
seen in this artwork is also a tip of the hat to the 10th anniversary
of the launches of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft each carrying
a golden record in the off-chance its recorded "message in
a bottle" might be intercepted somewhere and at sometime in
deep space.
See "The
Phonograph Lives! - The Voyagers" for more information
about Voyager 2's launch by NASA on August 20, 1977, Voyager 1's
launch on September 5, 1977 and the "greetings from earth"
Golden Record.
Voice of the
Victor, 1918 (Courtesy The Library of
Congress)
The Talking Machine
World, April 15, 1910
The Talking Machine
World, April 15, 1906
Record made by Suzanne
Arca and Stan Archaki for Phonograph Birthday Party 1989.
(His Master Grunts
Record is 7" D x 1" H slice of wood cut from tree trunk).
The Phonograph Art by
Chaige Baker, 2010
The Phonograph Art at
the Denver Museum drawn with snow by Chaige Baker, 2010
The Phonograph - May
7, 2022 Birthday Art by Nash Baker
The
following phonograph albums altered as mixed media pieces using
a process called an Altered Book Round Robin. The project started
with an old phonograph album and was sent to each participant to
"create" their own page. Altered Books are a popular way
to creatively share words and images and artistic expressions and
this one, because of the phonographia element, found its way to
this gallery. Mixed Media and Phonographia, 12" x 14"
in private collections.
Album Cover -
Created by Venita Hawkins-Bird, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Venita also created the back cover
and inside front. This Round Robin was Venita's, with contributions
from Michelle Schell, Leticia Gronlund and Lynn Henry.
Phonograph Album
Page - Created by Venita Hawkins-Bird, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Phonograph Album
Page - Created by Venita Hawkins-Bird, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Altered Phonograph
Album Page - Created by Lynn Henry, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Description: For Free
White Bird Vinyl with Sunset
When asked for an artistic explanation
of this piece, Lynn Henry provided these
words from her artist friend Michael deMeng who had presented
this lecture at ArtFest in Port Townsend, Washington in March 2006.
Phonograph Album
Page - Created by Venita Hawkins-Bird, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Altered Phonograph
Album Page - Created by Michelle Schell, 2005
Location: Ft. Collins,
Colorado
Altered
Phonograph Record
Artist:
Susan Wacob, Ft. Collins, CO, 2005
Genre:
Mail Art
Media:
Mixed Media on Phonograph Record
Location:
Private Collection
Description: This
phonograph record was mailed from one artist to another with a note
written on the reverse side. This is of a genre called 'Mail Art'
where different objects are artistically altered and then sent through
the mail, possibly back and forth, from one artist to another. As
you can see from the post this record was mailed as you see it here.
This phono mail was created by Susan Wacob and is owned by Christine
Webb owner of The Artists' Nook in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Collage
on a Phonograph Record
Made
by Bailey Nolder, Westminster, CO 2006
Media:
Mixed Media on Phonograph Record
Location:
Private Collection
Description: This
collage, created by Bailey Nolder, Grade 6 at Zerger Elementary
school, was selected for the Jeffco Elementary Art Show in 2006.
Victor
Trademark Window
Made
by Dave Cavenah, 1974
Media:
Leaded stained glass, 24" x 36"
Location:
Private Collection
Description: This
window features Nipper, one of the most famous advertising images
of all time, listening to the Berliner Gramophone.
Phonographia
|