Boombox and the City

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Stunning, the exihibit really was astonishing and a massive effort by Sal and his team. You guys seemed to have a blast, Chris, good to see you rocking that box as it should be, on the streets.

I wish you could have seen it yourself.

Technically, there is still time 😀

 

[deech]

I wish i was there too. Salvatore a diamond friend and just anything i d say is just not enough for his character.It seems like you had such a good time.I m going to say it again,the instalation with the Mini sanyos looks like Pompidou gallery moved to Catania, pretty artistic and very impressive. 😀

 

[Brutus442]

I've been absent for some time but I've returned to this lovely forum only to find this topic at the very top of the General Discussion thread. I have to say I'm lost for words because I know just how much effort and how long Samovar wanted this exhibition. To see it take place and have wonderful pics to go along with it warms my heart and reminds me of just how fantastic this hobby is...

...and more importantly how incredible the people are who collect these boomers. To all those involved and especially Sal, congratulations on making Catania THE place to be. For those that don't know Sal, note the picture of him serving cake. That sums him up...always giving.

P.S. Sal I am truly happy to see this. I know you've had this vision for a long time. Pat yourself on the back my friend! Next stop, Athens to cruise the markets with DEECH!!!!

 

[Hisrudeness]

Great pictures especially the last one ones.

Oh and that cake! I love Bolt boxes........and cake!

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I've been absent for some time but I've returned to this lovely forum only to find this topic at the very top of the General Discussion thread. I have to say I'm lost for words because I know just how much effort and how long Samovar wanted this exhibition. To see it take place and have wonderful pics to go along with it warms my heart and reminds me of just how fantastic this hobby is...

...and more importantly how incredible the people are who collect these boomers. To all those involved and especially Sal, congratulations on making Catania THE place to be. For those that don't know Sal, note the picture of him serving cake. That sums him up...always giving.

P.S. Sal I am truly happy to see this. I know you've had this vision for a long time. Pat yourself on the back my friend! Next stop, Athens to cruise the markets with DEECH!!!!

Brutus, you said it perfectly, Sal is such a genuine person and his passion for these radio's is only surpassed by his generosity. He has successfully spread this passion for radio's to his students and passerby's through this exhibit and tons of hard work and that is not an easy thing to do.

Walking the streets of Catania with Sal as he explained the history of the city and it's buildings dating back well into the 1700's and beyond, stopping at the "Boombox Bar" for a coffee, slipping into side street restaurants for fresh fish and just talking boomboxes (mostly Sanyo's lol) was just fantastic. I could do it every day of the week.

Of course, bringing a Lasonic all the way from California to blast in Sicily (where my grandmother and great grandmother were born) was the icing on the Bolt Box Cake!

I look forward to cranking up a Box with Sal again!

 

[docs]

I have a lot of pictures on my phone but must add one at a time so I’ll try and post some over a period of time.

 

[metalhandbag]

Cool pics Dave love the cabinet one .

 

[docs]

will post up some shots a few at a time...

 

[docs]

earlier in the day

 

[docs]

arriving at the exhibition...

 

[docs]

boxes and art everywhere...


eyes cant focus...


.

 

[T-STER]

Amazing, so many cool pictures, the exhibit looks amazing. Dave your fortunate to have been able to visit and see the exhibition and meet Sal all in one trip. I can see so much effort went in to this, thats true passion for the culture right there.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

DOCS, fantastic job capturing this event!

 

[docs]

some individual section art, which is your favourite??

 

[Northerner]

Awesome pics!

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

One thing that I find so interesting about this installation is the fact that it is breaking new ground AND on par with some of the most important displays that have been presented to date, including (but not limited too) Lyle Owerko's "The Boombox Project" (both book and live exhibit) and Miles' "The Boombox Creators" film project (both video and live exhibit).

Along with the global meets that are taking place, it appears there is still much to be said about the social and cultural impact of the Boombox and the people who remember them.

 

[SLO]

Amazing, so many cool pictures, the exhibit looks amazing. Dave your fortunate to have been able to visit and see the exhibition and meet Sal all in one trip. I can see so much effort went in to this, thats true passion for the culture right there.

Truly truly amazing! These meets and exhibits are no easy task. Choosing what boxes to take, (so many choices), packing and loading the boomboxes, transporting them (carefully & safely) unloading them (carefully and safely), setting up displays and so on and so on...I can really appreciate all of the time and effort that was put into this from all of you guys. It looked like a BLAST!

I can just imagine Michael Jackson's "Beat It" bouncing off of all the walls out there, and at full volume! LOUUUD...That must have been a sight to see and hear Hats off to all of you guys for pulling off such an awesome exhibit! Loved all of the pictures and the story that goes with them

You guys took BOOMBOXERY to BADASSERY status!

 

[samovar]

Thanks everybody for your fantastic feedback. These last two weeks the event has totally absorbed me, so much so that only now I find the time to take stock and post -- quickly -- a few comments and some additional pictures. But before I go on, I wish to express my very special thanks to Chris, Dave, Ellen and Charlotte for coming to Catania and taking part in the Boombox Walk. We had a great time together which went far beyond that Saturday evening and the other two days in Sicily. Thanks guys and gurls, you're wonderful!

Now back to Boombox and the City:

1. The exhibition. It is based on the work of three groups of students from the Academy of Fine Arts (the creators of the lovely installation in the second room), Foreign Languages and Literature (the creators of the videos in the third room), and the faculty of Architecture (the authors of the posters under the guide of the co-curator of the event in the first room), and it is organized in collaboration with Radio Zammù, sponsored by the University of Catania and run by students of the that University.



2. The dynamic exhibition
From day one to date, the exhibition has been rearranged more than once, since it is programmatically "in movement". Here is a picture with some technical posters and Lea's paintings...


... and I have been interviewed by several local radios. This is a pic from my Studio 90 interview, the most important one because the network is broadcast nationally.



3. The boomboxes. They come from from my collection and have been chosen as samples of the big size boombox that was all the rage with hip hop and break dance. The idea was to show something of everything, provided that the boxes were big enough to stand out in the beautiful setting of the ancient building were the exhibition takes place.

4. Extras. In addition to the boxes and the didactic moment, the exhibition presents three stunning paintings by the local painter Lea (I am in love with one and Chris with another and we wish we could buy them at affordable prices, but unfortunately the artist is now receiving attention from the market... damn!) plus a fantastic audiovideo installation by the renowned French-Italian digital artist and performer hhybrydd, featuring digitalized images from the paintings of the Brazilian artist Saulo Portela.

5. The collateral events. Every Saturday we have a performance. After the Boombox Walk (informal and strictly speaking non-artistic, but that was the idea in the first place), yesterday we had a wonderful artistic performance by hhybrydd based on the idea of unveiling (stripping bare, according to the title of the event) the disembodied voice coming out of a radio. The perfomance is better experienced than described, but it's so good that yesterday we had to concede a bis!

6. The follow-up. On Friday 8th there will be a round table with myself, my friend the architect, a professor of technology and a colleague of mine on the cultural relevance of the boombox, and on Saturdat 9th the "Out of the Box" concert will end it all. Three of my students will be singing with the accompanyment of a local band, the Lamblessed. You can have a première of what Giovanna, Daniela and Pia are capable of by checking in these three youtube videos. Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh2OqxomtRs​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKT1RYA0gJ0​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c932Ck4sGi4​

 

[T-STER]

It's a stunning achievement Sal you must be really proud. As Chris said it just shows the cultural impact the boombox had and is still having that 30 odd years on it is still being celebrated.

The artwork section really is stunning for me, Dave asked "which one is your favorite" but after looking again I still cant decide, they are all fantastic.

 

[goodman]

There is so many nice pictures.
Maybe its good idea to make a magazine with all these pictures.

Thanks for this video:
Lamblessed - Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio (Ramones)

The boombox in this video is like just mine ACIKO ARC 116:

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