VF compiles Ben Kelly installation soundtracks on new vinyl release

Columns / Falling Columns contains music from the 2022 exhibition Future Shock.‍

The Vinyl Factory has brought together the soundtracks of two installations by British designer Ben Kelly on a new vinyl release.

Composed by Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner, Columns / Falling Columns originally accompanied two installations commissioned by 180 Studios for the 2022 exhibition Future Shock. Listen to it here.

Pressed on 180-gram white vinyl and limited to 300 copies, an organic-shaped die-cut peephole has been cut into the front of the sleeve as a homage to Marcel Duchamp’s final work Étant donnés (1946-1966) – a gateway to another world.

The peephole reveals one of Kelly’s orange columns and plinth with a gloss varnish on a black background. On removing the inner sleeve the statement: “CONCERNING THE BUILDING OF THESE COLUMNS WE HAVE NO CERTAIN NEWS” is revealed, printed on a pigeon blue background.

The rear of the inner sleeve contains a printed transcription of a detailed telephone conversation recorded between Kelly and Scanner. Across the two sides of the inner sides of the record gatefold is a vertical full-colour printed collage of columns, taken from the FALLING COLUMNS digital installation.

The rear of the sleeve contains a printed essay by Brian Dillon, beginning with a quote from Francesco Colonna. Kelly originally commissioned this essay to accompany his COLUMNS installation in 2022. A Chocolate Grinder is printed on the silver mirror board on the rear of the gatefold above the VF logo.

Ben Kelly is one of the UK’s most influential designers and is best known for his interior design of the legendary nightclub, The Haçienda in Manchester. His practice has produced influential work for 180 Studios, Virgil Abloh, The Sex Pistols, The V&A, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren and Factory Records.

The Vinyl Factory first collaborated with Kelly to commission and stage his installation RUIN, produced in collaboration with Virgil Abloh, at 180 Studios in 2017. 180 Studios subsequently staged Kelly’s Columns installation as part of the exhibition Future Shock. A specially conceived record room designed by Kelly is currently on display at The Vinyl Factory: Reverb exhibition.