Brian Eno is many things: composer, writer, record producer, visual artist, musician and self-described ‘non-musician’.
One of experimental pop’s most innovative figures, he’s been a member of Roxy Music, collaborated with David Bowie, U2, Coldplay, Laurie Anderson and Grace Jones, and invented the term ‘ambient music’.
Since the 1970s, Eno’s visual art has been dedicated to the potential of light. Drawing on Light and Space motifs, Mondrian, Suprematism and the early-20th-century Russian avant-garde, Eno’s sense-saturating work plunges viewers, and listeners, into a meditative, detached state. He’s installed work on the sails of Sydney Opera House, the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank and created healing music and light installations for hospitals.
Alongside etchings, lenticular printing and sound works, Eno is known for his kaleidoscopic light boxes – which sit somewhere between the soul-snatching awe of a Mark Rothko and the optical seduction of a James Turrell – seamlessly drift through infinite combinations of seductive self-generated ‘colourscapes’ using a series of interwoven LED lights.
Brian Eno’s new limited-edition turntable
In a similar vein, the artist has just unveiled a new turntable with London’s Paul Stolper Gallery. ‘The light from it was tangible as if caught in a cloud of vapour,’ Eno said of the turntable. ‘We sat watching for ages, transfixed by this totally new experience of light as a physical presence’. Released in a limited edition run of 50, the turntable is a psychedelic and evolving blend of sound and vision, and a piece of art in its own right.
‘One of the great breakthroughs of evolution theory is that you can start with simple things and they will grow into complexity. This is very unintuitive — it’s one of these things that the human brain isn’t immediately capable of grasping. It doesn’t make sense until you see it,’ Eno continued. ‘You have the idea that this small thing, which can’t contain that many instructions, produces this hugely complex interwoven, interdependent world. One of the things I like about this piece of work is that it stands as proof of that.’
INFORMATION
-
The new Nothing Ear (3) are fine-sounding earbuds with added audio functionalityNothing’s latest upgrade brings the Super Mic to its earbud range, enhancing call quality and creating a handy voice memo taker
-
‘Marie Antoinette Style’ at the V&A dares us to consider the woman beneath the artificeThe most intriguing objects in the V&A’s landmark exhibition on Marie Antoinette are not the sumptuous gowns or jewellery, but those which expose the French monarch’s corporality – from her spittoon to a toiletry case – argues India Birgitta Jarvis
-
Apple unveils its next-gen camera in a powerful new photography exhibitionThe new iPhone 17 Pro Max takes centre stage in a New York exhibition where artists Inez & Vinoodh, Mickalene Thomas, and Trunk Xu explore the theme of joy
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, our editors have been privy to the latest restaurants, art, music, wellness treatments and car shows. Highlights include a germinating artwork and a cruise along the Pacific Coast Highway…
-
Pantone’s new public art installation is a tribute to Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’, 25 years after its releaseThe colour company has created a – you guessed it – yellow colour swatch on some steps in Wembley Park, London, where the band will play ten shows this month
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe Wallpaper* team immersed themselves in culture this week, attending theatre, music and art performances and exhibitions at some of London’s most esteemed establishments. Along the way, we may have discovered the city's best salad…
-
The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands on creating an electronic score for historical drama, MussoliniTom Rowlands has composed ‘The Way Violence Should Be’ for Sky’s eight-part, Italian-language Mussolini: Son of the Century
-
Tate Modern to host Aphex Twin listening experienceA free listening event for Aphex Twin's reissued album 'Selected Ambient Works II (Expanded Edition)' on the 25th of October
-
Björk announces Cornucopia: The BookThe photographic documentation of Björk’s otherworldly tour
-
'Anything I put out into the world, I want to be a prayer': musician Laura Marling on eschewing traditional merch for tarot-inspired printsAs Laura Marling prepares to release her eighth album, 'Patterns in Repeat', Craig McLean learns about another artistic pursuit that occupies her time
-
'She made me feel like I could, and should, be myself': SOPHIE's friends and collaborators on her enduring legacyIt's been nearly four years since boundary-breaking electronic music producer and artist, SOPHIE, tragically passed away. As fans are gifted a last, posthumous album completed by her loved ones, music critic El Hunt reflects on her remarkable legacy
