Curated by artist and dramatist, Michael McMillan, the Sound System Back in da Day exhibition attempts to use the elements as a communication tool. Wooden speakers and vinyl record decks; a breezy ride back in time across Nottingham's musical landscape; fiery, yet honest conversations and the fluidity of local people, history and art as a visual continuum.
On entering the main gallery, the bass sounds of interviews play out, which feature some of the finest contributors to Nottingham's musical soundscape. Stories that spell out the reach and reason for the different phases of sound systems are told by the likes of Lady V-Rocket, Daddy Crucial, Top Notch and more. Hand-crafted speaker boxes punctuate the gallery at intervals, as would be a familiar sight at a concert or nightclub. Imagining how the vibrations from one's headphones match the sounds which emanate from speaker boxes which, at 6ft high and over, contain woofers, tweeters and cones, would be underplaying the power. As the multimedia elements in the space fill the senses, you can imagine your feet want to move to the invisible rhythm.
Next door to the main space is an ante-room, furnished quite cleverly with memorabilia following the theme of sound system 'culcha' to a tee. Three of the four walls are adorned with seventies-inspired vintage wallpaper, upon which are photos of families, get-togethers and portraiture, as well as a diverse selection of record sleeves. Look closer and you will notice that this intriguing living room is full of treasures donated mainly by local people. Some of the furniture is displayed so that you can almost pour yourself a drink at the sideboard or play a little vinyl. A yellow and black map fills the fourth wall and provides an opportunity to get involved, and map your own experience and location of sound systems, or dance and blues venues.
Whether you were an original rocker, soulhead, into lovers, or indeed interested in any genre of music, this exhibition achieves – with conviction – its goal of bringing the history of a movement. The movement of soundwaves ordered, quite deliberately, to connect with the bass spirit of people in a universal dance.
Rockers, Soulheads and Lovers: Sound Systems Back in the Day; In Fine Stlye: The Dancehall Art of Wilfred Limonious; and Synaesthesia and Vibrations, New Art Exchange, all exhibitions run until Sunday 3 January 2016.
New Art Exchange website
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