Arc Box (Utech Records)
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| Artist | Tabata Mitsuru, Suzuki Junzo, Sachiko, Zaïmph, Joshua Convey, James Plotkin, Knell, Daniel Menche, The Skull Defekts, |
| Title | Arc Box |
| Label | Utech Records |
| Year | 2008 |
| Designer | Cover images by Max Aguilera-Hellweg; design by Keith Utech; box by Roger Utech; screen printing by Alan Sherry. |
| Music | Drone, hum, roar, noise |
| Desktop | Download image |
| Notes | The Arc Box is a gorgeous design containing nine CDs by nine different artists. Each sleeve is tightly contained in a transparent plastic sleeve and bears a darkly beautiful image by photographer Max Aguilera-Hellweg. On the reverse a delicate line graphic on a coloured, metallic ground. There’s also an artist’s statement and a limited edition print. The music is a fascinating index of hums, gratings, unexpected melody, rumbles and buzzes. The combination of the wooden box, the snug fit of the sleeves, the dark images and the music makes an experience to treasure.
Utech statement: The Arc Series began as abstraction. Utech Records and Max Aguilera-Hellweg had previously worked together on Half Makeshift Aphotic Leech in the fall of 2006. Over the dark Wisconsin winter of 2007 the label began to sketch out a brazen idea and a means for its realization. That idea was to produce a series of releases that would marry photography and sound in such a way as to tether a varied spectrum of music with a single visual concept. Max was invited to participate and graciously accepted. The Arc Series would come to represent an alliance/arc borne among artists of disparate fields of study (music, photography, graphic design, lithography, woodworking and screen printing) and comprise the first entry in the label’s fine art catalog provoking incursion into further long-term collaborations. Each of the disks was hand assembled in an exclusive package and released in editions of five hundred copies. Nine volumes were issued from April to December 2007. As the series was met with much acclaim Utech Records decided to produce a box set to celebrate its conclusion. The Arc box is the most involved project the label has undertaken. The box is only be for sale through the Utech Records website. Each set contains all nine releases housed in a wood box hand crafted by Roger Utech and screen printed by Alan Sherry. Also included is a giclee print highlighting a photo from Max Aguilera-Hellweg’s personal collection. The photo, Maricopa, was selected by Max and described as follows “Soup ladle and Pyrex measuring cup, autopsy, Maricopa County medical examiner, Phoenix, Arizona. The photograph is of an autopsy being performed, the medical examiner and his assistant are using a soup ladle and Pyrex measuring cup to remove liquid contents found in the abdominal cavity of the body they are examining.” Each print is signed/numbered and will be exclusive to the set. Box size 5.4375″ x 5.5625″ See also: – Sum of R, The Vulture Club (Utech Records, part 1) |
