Lucas Abela's Vinyl Arcade
Property Owner: The GPT Group
Shop 45 Hunter St Mall - just near the Brewery Tower Pedestrian Overpass
DJ SMALLCOCK’S VINYL ARCADE
The vinyl Arcade is a participatory play-set, playing off vinyl fetishism, video arcade mystique and the machismo of motor sports. An immersive sound instrument putting you in the drivers seat of a tiny remote control car with styli attached as it navigates its way through a landscape of disused vinyl records. A place where art, fun and competition meet in a giant cacophonous roar!
The artist invites you to bring any non essential vinyl with you to throw in the pit.
Devised by Lucas Abela with electrical engineering assistance by Frederick Rodrigues.
Co presented by Electrofringe and Renew Newcastle for this years This Is Not Art festival.
Open Hours: 3-6pm
Dates: Thursday 1, Friday 2, Saturday 3, Sunday 4 of October 2009
Location: Shop 45 Hunter St Mall – just near the Brewery Tower Pedestrian Overpass (next to the old Katies)
About the Artist:
DJ Smallcock is another pseudonym for maverick sound performer Lucas Abela (Justice Yeldham). Bestowed on him by one dissatisfied, radio skid row listener. Rather than playing records, Abela was feeding back the radio signal into itself turning the station itself into a musical instrument. When the phone rang ‘get off the air smallcock’ was all that was said, as an unworldly howl emitted from 88.9 fm.
Initially an experimental turntablist, Abela’s work soon stopped resembling anything in the field, decks morphed into high-powered parodies of the genre and eventually into sheets of glass. His 15 plus year contribution to our auralsphere has seen him stab vinyl with Kruger style stylus gloves, bound on amplified trampolines, perform deaf defying duet duels with amplified samurai swords, hospitalised by high powered turntables, record chance John Peel sessions with the Flaming Lips, and most recently tour the world armed with nothing but a sheet of glass.
The Vinyl Arcade sees Abela come full circle to his turntablist roots but on a far grander scale. This installation combines vinyl fetishism and competitive sports. Imagine a racetrack constructed from a mass of disused vinyl records, where remote control cars with styli attached are raced by members of the crowd. A place where art, fun and competition meet in a giant cacophonous roar!
http://dualplover.com/justice.htm
http://myspace.com/justiceyeldham
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JUSTICE-YELDHAM/18143895707
October 2009 Update: This project was held in Shop 45, 164-170 Hunter St Mall during the This Is Not Art festival 01-05 October 2009, and has now left town. Check out the dualplover website for what you missed out on!
