Beginning with his 1978 genre-defining masterpiece, Ambient 1: Music for Airports, through three successive ambient studio albums, concluding in 1981’s Ambient 4: On Land, musician Brian Eno established himself as the highest tide upon the shores, conjuring soundscapes intended to “induce calm and a space to think.” It comes as no surprise that the artist harbors a curiosity for light’s influence upon the mind and body for its similar affect. In continued exploration of this, the musician and designer announces the Turntable II – a sequel to his 2022 series of LED-illuminated turntables in collaboration with London’s Paul Stolper Gallery, which first sparked the idea to harness the programmable glow of LEDs into random energized colorscapes.
Similar in construction, this second go-around uses a circular acrylic platter and base versus its rectilinear predecessor. Eno’s second release, though, is admittedly an iterative interpretation rather than anything wholly new. Like before, this unit features a multi-color LED illuminated “colourscapes” record player design programmed to “play” pattern of lights at varying and random speeds when paired with either 33 or 45rpm vinyl records. Eno says the overlapping light cycles never repeat, perpetually producing different color combinations with every listening session.
For those interested in the actual technical specs as much as the spectacle of art that the Turntable II offers, the light sculpture comprises a 8.6” Pro-Ject aluminum tonearm, Ortofon white 2M cartridge, stainless steel bearing block, gold plated RCA connectors, belt drive 15v motor (compatible with both 33 and 45rpm playback), electronic speed switch, and 15v DC power supply. The turntable’s integrated RGB LEDs are handled by a control board with 5V adapter and Arduino single-board microcontroller, hauntingly illuminated through a medium density resin, one-piece precision body and frosted acrylic platter.
It’s the softness of these colors and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive… When it doesn’t have to do anything in particular, like play a record, it is a sculpture.
– Brian Eno
Each one of the 150 Eno Edition Turntable IIs include 20 artist’s proofs, the artist’s signature, and the edition number engraved onto the side of the base.
Those who missed out the on first series of 50 turntables please note: Eno and Paul Stolper Gallery plan to fabricate more of these illuminated acrylic decks by hand tripling the inventory. The sobering catch? Every one of the 150 Eno-signed Turntable II units comes attached to a £20,000 tag, a price that is set to “increase as we sell through the edition.”
For more about Brain Eno and his works on view, visit PaulStolper.com.