
A Submerged Turntable Installation by Evan Holm Emits Music From the Below the Surface
Apparently, with the right electronics, you can submerge a record player and still hear what’s scratching just below the surface. Artist Evan Holm demonstrates the device as part of a larger installation at SFMOMA aptly titled Submerged Turntable. Holm shares in a statement about the work:
There will be a time when all tracings of human culture will dissolve back into the soil under the slow crush of the unfolding universe. The pool, black and depthless, represents loss, represents mystery, and represents the collective subconscious of the human race. By placing these records underneath the dark and obscure surface of the pool, I am enacting a small moment of remorse towards this loss. In the end, however, this is an optimistic sculpture, for just after that moment of submergence; tone, melody, and ultimately song is pulled back out of the pool, past the veil of the subconscious, out from under the crush of time, and back into a living and breathing realm.
There’s also a short documentary about how the piece came together.