A very limited-edition turntable will go on sale next week in the UK, created by iconic "non-musician" and artist Brian Eno. Packed with color-changing LED lights, the signed and numbered functional sculpture carries an eye-watering launch price of £20,000.
Suffolk-born Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Eno first shared his unique creative energy with the world as a founding member of the glam rock band Roxy Music in 1971 – recording two albums before leaving to pursue a solo career.
As well as releasing his own music, he has collaborated with numerous musicians and artists over the years, including David Bowie, Robert Fripp, U2, Grace Jones, Coldplay, Talking Heads, Devo and most recently his brother Roger. He's also known for his visual art, and in 2021 launched a run of 50 striking turntables through a London gallery – each priced at £20,000.
Now for 2024, Eno is back with another slightly less limited version called, appropriately enough, the Turntable II. Again fashioned using acrylic, but this time in circular form rather than square, the eye-popping art piece is packed with LEDs that produce "generative colorscapes" as the lights in the plinth and platter independently cycle through random changes.
"It’s the softness of these colors and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive," said Eno. "When it doesn’t have to do anything in particular, like play a record, it is a sculpture."
The turntable's given specs include a one-piece resin body wrapped in frosted acrylic, a cast acrylic platter that spins at 33 and 45 rpm via a belt-drive motor, a white 8.6-inch Pro-Ject aluminum tonearm ending in a white Ortofon 2M cartridge, a control board with Arduino brains, and gold-plated RCA outputs. It has a diameter of 45 cm (17.7 in) and stands 15 cm (6 in) tall, including the feet, and comes with a 15-V DC power supply.
The Turntable II is limited to 150 units worldwide, and carries the same launch price as the 2021 original of £20,000 (which converts to around US$25,215) – though the press release notes that "the price will increase as we sell through the edition." It will go on sale from February 13 through the Paul Stopler Gallery in London, where it's also on show until March 9.
Source: Paul Stopler
