Tape tangle -record, rewind, playback, stop

Exhibition at the Center for Artists’ Publications

The cassette recorder opened up new, simple possibilities for visual artists to record and distribute soundworks, sound experiments, interviews, and audio documents, especially since the 1970s. No longer bound to elaborate studio technology or minimum print runs, acoustic projects could be realized under their own direction and copied, distributed, and exchanged as needed.

Magazines also appeared in cassette form, such as the “Audio Arts Magazine” published by William Furlong in England for over 30 years beginning in 1973. Numerous interviews by Furlong with contemporary artists reflect the increasing importance of conceptual approaches and provide a direct impression of the respective artistic personalities. In Hungary, György Galantai documented the activities of “Artpool Radio” in a series of eight cassettes between 1983 and 1987.

From its holdings, the Study Center for Artists’ Publications presents an overview of the diversity of the artist’s cassette – from object-like cassette covers to spatial installations, from individual sound works to internationally conceived collaborative projects.

Hamburg-based artist Armin Chodzinski has set up his spatial installation “Like Anselm Kiefer!” consisting of several thousand cassettes for the Bandsalat exhibition.