Intro to Visual Practice / Fall 2010

Dave Muller, “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia),” 2003.

After viewing the works in The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, one that particularly struck me was Dave Muller’s “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia).” [seen below with the black background] Despite its two-dimensionality, this acrylic piece transmits the physical characteristics and feelings of records in a way that speaks to the senses, as if it occupies three dimensions.  The general aesthetics of the work evoke sensations of nostalgia and remembrance through the faded colors, torn and tattered edges, and loose posture of the records.  This piece can even transmit sounds to the viewer – it’s as if one can hear the scratchy music of turntable in the background.  The magnitude of “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia)” demands that the viewer stop and consider this piece; the records are represented on such a scale that they cannot be overlooked.  In this manner, Muller brings attention back to the record itself – forcing the viewer to reconsider this musical phenomena that was once at demand in the music world.  These notions extend to Muller’s other works as well – sensations of nostalgia and remembrance are transmitted while he calls attention to the biography of the record, its past, present, and future.

-Amanda Jordan