I’ve got 2 large boxes completely full of old cassette tapes (remember those?) in my closet. There are probably over 400 tapes sitting there, degrading, losing their magnetic information, slowly dissolving into silence, or perhaps more correctly, white noise.
Will I ever listen to any of these again? Probably not. Heck, I don’t even own a tape player. Even if I did want to listen to any of them one day, I’m sure I’d be considerably disappointed in the sound quality (if there was any music still on them at all), after having been spoiled with CD’s for so long.
I have no idea why I still keep them. Perhaps it’s one part nostalgia mixed with one part being a bit of a pack rat and one part denial. Or maybe it’s just the fond memories of seeing cassettes completely unraveled on the side of the road – their former owners apparently hanging them out the window to see how far they would stretch behind the car.
Cassette Tape Art
Well, artist Erika Iris Simmons has definitely done something useful with her tapes.
She is an artist who specializes in using non-traditional media such as old books, audio cassettes, playing cards, magazines, credit cards, basically whatever he can find. She says:
It feels great to work with strange, older materials. Things that have a mind of their own. Most everything I use has been thrown away or donated at some point. Past its prime, like some of the finest things in the world.
What she’s created with some old cassette tapes and reel tapes is simply remarkable. Using these old tapes, she has turned them into works of art in a series that she calls “Ghost in the Machine.” The series portrays celebrities and musicians such as Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, Robert DiNero, Jimi Hendrix, Ian Curtis, and Jim Morrison.
Jim Morrison:
The “Reel” Marilyn Monroe:
Robert De Niro:
Ian Curtis
Bob Dylan:
Jimi Hendrix
Incredible, aren’t they? You can find more of her work on flicker. You should also take a look at the really creative Bose Singer ads.
very hip very cool congrats
WOW!
ooooo! perdy!!
Awesome – I wonder if they put glue down in the areas first? (That’s how I’d do it, cause I’m not visually artistic at all!)
nice!
Looks like a recycling of an idea from Vik Muniz.
Love it, Awesome medium
simply awesome, what a way to apply creativity to recycle in an artfull manner. Congrats. Im gonna try it myself now.
now, do the tapes actually contain the music of the musicans being depicted? that would be pretty sweet.
Totally awesome. I wonder how long these took to make.
ian curtis=win
Way to recycle!
This is really cool and creative. I wonder how long it took to make one.
I love the second Jimi Hendrix. The Marilyn is pretty damn impressive too.
That is the most original thing I have seen in years..
Is it possible you will be selling original pieces in the future?
let me be the first to say this: this can be done in photoshop, and you won’t have to waste any cassette tapes to do it.
Wow, most creative thing I’ve seen in a while
WHAT A BETTER WAY TO RECYCLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s a great idea. Someone has a lot of patience, glue and time on their hands!
These are amazing. I especially love the Dylan one at the end. Also, this comment format is choice! Classy post; classy site! Cheers!
i would LOVE to get ahold of cassette tapes for my car >>>>> music…..do you have a catalog or something or do i look on the web???:?? i haad a severe brain injury so im still back way back when.
thanking you in advance. phyllis
That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!! I have seen art made from cassettes, but not as detailed as this!!! Way to go!!
I really like the ones made out of old Reel to Reels. This has got me wondering if I can make a clock out of an old record or cover a ceramic pot in shattered CDs/DVDs. The use for old, obsolete formats of music is virtually endless. So don’t just let your old 8-tracks/cassettes just slowly fade away and become magnetic dust, create!
This is simply amazing! I have been trying to find ways to recycle my cassettes, but I don’t have the artistic talent to do this! I did however use this company cassettemp3player.com to recycle some of my stuff. You can a cool retro cassette that uses an SD card with all your files converted from the cassettes as mp3. So check it out, if you don’t have the time or artistic greatness to make this kind of art..
Superbly creative! I have a couple of boxes of old cassette tapes too… and now i know what to do with them. Thanks for the inspiration!
Those are really cool looking. I’m going to share this with my brother who is an artist.
These [removed]. Always celebrating worthless hippies and [removed].
I thought it was all like the tape but after i figured out you drew some of it i was unimpressed, as impressed. You should just confuse them you know what im saying? hahahahahah. NO. hahaha. Kevin your hair is so sexy.
Waste of tape. Record on them, that’s the true art of tapes. Don’t do this to tapes, [removed].
I love these but would like seeing 3 dimensional art with cassettes Anyone doing that yet?