Photos By Gail

Artist Tom Sachs’ Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016 at the Brooklyn Museum showcased the artist’s  innovative reinterpretations of the Boombox, a cultural icon of 1980s hip-hop and street culture. The exhibition featured eighteen sculptures crafted from everyday materials like plywood, foamcore, duct tape, hot glue, solder and wires, transforming the museum’s glass entryway, the Rubin Pavilion, into an immersive sound environment. Art!


Installation View

Boombox Retrospective included notable works such as Toyan’s (2002), inspired by Jamaican sound systems, and Presidential Vampire Booth (2002), complete with a stocked bar and presidential seal. For this post, I chose to feature the sculpture entitled Clusterfuck (2014), because the name is so appropriate to the times we live in. I mean, come on.

Clusterfuck is distinguished by its inclusion of a pair of steer horns, motorcycle side mirrors, an airhorn, a small round mirror, and an orange wind sock, flying free above the sculpture. Because art is what you can get away with.