Lot #604: ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG - Speaking in Tongues - Vinyl record in plastic case

         

Artist: Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008).
Title: "Speaking in Tongues [the Talking Heads record]".
Medium: Vinyl record in plastic case.
Date: Composed 1983.
Dimensions: Image size: 12 7/8 x 12 7/8 in. (327 x 327 mm).
Lot Note(s): Signed by the artist on the original shrink wrap. Large size edition, of which few survive intact. Fine condition; original shrink wrap intact; never opened; never played. Provenance: Private collection, Deerfield, Illinois. Comment(s): Rare when signed. The legendary record for which Rauschenberg won the 1984 Grammy Award for best recording package. "Complete with spinning plexi-discs and layers of images, it was the perfect foil for Rauschenberg’s interest in collaged objects. Red, yellow and blue discs were layered with photographs of number plates, car bumpers, and suburban bedrooms. The cover looks almost exactly like his 1967 piece "Revolver," with similar plexi-discs set in a concrete base with a motor to spin the prints. Only with the Talking Heads’ artwork we got to control them ourselves – on a record, no less. Something that’s accessible and affordable. It was the ideal medium for an artist who’d been known to say that he wanted to ‘work in the gap between art and life.’ " (courtesy Jennifer Kabat). Image copyright © Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. [25306-3-400]