Artwork: Ghost in the Machine
Artist: iri5
About the Work:
Gone are the days when tape was the entertainment medium of choice, but there’s no denying it still holds a special place in the hearts of those who used it.
In celebration of this nostalgia, artist Erika Iris Simmons, a.k.a. iri5, created her Ghost in the Machine collection, a series of works portraying iconic people and characters using the very tape upon which their talent was captured.
“The Ghost in the Machine series was inspired by some strange ideas. How at one level we are cellular beings and another we are a single ‘self’. The single cassette tape I thought of as representing the mind. The tape ribbon represents our thoughts, the data within. Taking that data – those bits of memory – and rearranging them to form what we see as a face is my way of finding a “ghost in the machine.” I also liked the fact that when you look at a portrait like Jimi Hendrix out of a cassette tape, you can almost hear the music in your head – so your own ‘data’ is responding to what you see,” explained iri5.
Indeed, the work has a stunningly visceral element to it, one that perfectly encapsulates both artist, art, and medium.
Working from her studio in New Orleans’ French Quarter, iri5 has been producing work using both tape and vinyl for over seven years. Her work has appeared in a range of magazines – most recently on the cover of the November 9 – 16 edition of The Village Voice – and recently went on sale at Fortunate Discoveries, a high-end studio in Chicago.
Throughout the years, iri5 has been commissioned for a range of major productions, and was honoured as the Official Artist of the 2013 Grammy Awards, making the piece below.
“Erika’s unique concept of creating a GRAMMY with recording tape speaks to the history of recorded music and celebrates the tradition and timelessness of music’s most prestigious honour. We are grateful to work with such a gifted and exceptional artist,” wrote The Recording Academy’s President/CEO, Neil Portnow, in a press release accompanying the announcement.
iri5 was also responsible for the music video for Bruno Mars’s 2010 hit Just the Way You Are, which has accumulated over 800 million views. See it, and more of iri5’s work below, or at her official website.
