Thursday, September 12, 2024

Christian Marclay | Footsteps









Christian Marclay
Footsteps
Zürich, Switzerland: Rec Rec, 1989
12” vinyl record
Edition of 1000 copies, 100 of which were signed


In December of 1988, Christian Marclay visited a foley booth to record the sound of footsteps. Seven tracks (and a track of tap dancing) were pressed to a single-sided vinyl record. Three and a half thousand copies were pressed up and were taped down on the floor of Zurich’s Shedhalle gallery in 1989. 

Gallery goers walked over the discs and when the installation was complete they were lifted up and boxed, along with a postcard and 90 x 60 cm. poster.

When buyers played the record the recorded sounds of footsteps co-mingled with the actual sounds of the disks being walked over - the scratches and the dirt left behind causing the needle to skip - to create a perfect duet. 

Despite a long, prolific career, I still consider this his true masterpiece. 









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