Needles(s)

Needles(s) is work by Olan Stephens which combines an interactive installation with sonic art and electro acoustic music. The installation uses old and new technology together to create an entirely new audiovisual experience. It takes a record player, an archaic, analogue, familiar and even nostalgic simple piece of equipment, as an interface for an audience member to use a more complex system which generates a different piece of electro acoustic music every time a record is played.
The title plays on the idea of the main point of interaction being the movement of the stylus or needle through the record, as well as the idea of the vinyl player, a now sometimes considered needless piece of equipment being re-used in an entirely different way in a modernised context. You are invited into the space to sit down and play a record, or even bring your own, and hear it transformed by the system into an entirely new audio experience!

Text: Olan Stephens