It’s 20 years since Massive Attack released the groundbreaking Mezzanine. Still restless and forward-facing, founding member Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja has decided to can the landmark album by way of celebration. Working with scientists in Switzerland, he has encoded the digital bitstream of the album into strands of artificial DNA, encased them in microscopic glass beads and turned that into black paint (a nod to Del Naja’s sideline as a graffiti artist). The concept just scooped Best Canned Music in our Wallpaper* Design Awards.
RELATED STORY
The use of DNA to store digital information is actually one of science’s hottest research areas; a gram of double helixes could potentially store 500 billion gigs of data. Massive Attack settled for a measly million copies of the album in each can of Mezzanine paint.
Designed by long-term collaborator Tom Hingston and Del Naja, just 30 cans will be made available in early March.
As originally featured in the February 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*239)
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Massive Attack website
-
Inga Sempé's home reveals the charm of daily imperfectionsInga Sempé's exhibition at Triennale Milano (until 15 September 2024) condenses the aesthetic as well as the complexities of the French designer's work into an exhibition you can touch and feel
-
Perron Design’s bespoke mountain retreat in Quebec is a house that thinks it’s a hotelChalet Bertha is a bespoke mountain retreat set at the top of Quebec’s famous Le Massif de Charlevoix resort, inspired by the interiors of the world’s best boutique hotels
-
A new limited-edition Rhodes piano and Gibson doubleneck guitar aim for the starsThe new Rhodes Mk8 Earth Edition piano and Gibson Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck guitar revisit classic instruments at a price
-
Secret 7” is back with limited-edition vinyl cover art to aid War ChildSecret 7” returns with it charity auction of seven new mystery tracks sealed behind 700 uniquely designed vinyl cover sleeves (and anyone can bid)
-
How Oscar-nominated ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ made a star of the most ear-popping song of the yearWallpaper* meets ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ favourites Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, whose cover of 50 Cent's ‘P.I.M.P’ muscles its way into the Oscar-nominated courtroom drama
-
V&A East announces ‘The Music Is Black: A British Story’, its first major exhibitionLondon’s V&A East to examine the cultural impact of Black British music with its inaugural exhibition in 2025
-
Edinburgh Art Festival 2023: from bog dancing to binge drinkingWhat to see at Edinburgh Art Festival 2023, championing women and queer artists, whether exploring Scottish bogland on film or casting hedonism in ceramic
-
Last chance to see: Devon Turnbull’s ‘HiFi Listening Room Dream No. 1’ at Lisson Gallery, LondonDevon Turnbull/OJAS’ handmade sound system matches minimalist aesthetics with a profound audiophonic experience – he tells us more
-
Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth unite for a sensorial London exhibition and auctionHospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth are working together to raise money for arts and mental health charities
-
The best London art exhibitions to see nowYour guide to the best London art exhibitions, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
-
‘These Americans’: Will Vogt documents the USA’s rich at playWill Vogt’s photo book ‘These Americans’ is a deep dive into a world of privilege and excess, spanning 1969 to 1996
