#shackway

8-Track Vacuum   by David Sollie.  Mixed media on canvas, 32" x 34", 2010-12.    This work has not yet been exhibited, but a slightly different version of it will be presented at the 2012 Gyumri Biennale of Contemporary Art in Gyumri, Armenia, along with other Shackway-related ephemera.  The Biennale opens in mid-September, 2012.   More information will follow.   As mentioned previously, Mr. Sollie’s work has lately been an ongoing investigation into the history and culture of the Shackway corporation.  The Shackway corporation was started just after the Second World War by Mr. Sollie’s grandfather, entrepreneur Bruce Milburn.   

8-Track Vacuum is a work intended to showcase one of the Shackway Corporation's approaches to industrial design.  The approach can be summed up as "more is less" - in other words, one approach is to produce and sell beautiful empty promises.  8-Track Vacuum is a product that promises things like relief from domestic drudgery, ease of use and space-saving convenience, but what the consumer ends up with is a heavy and clunky machine whose greatest strength is it's ability to consume D-cell batteries.  If used as intended, the sound of the vacuum drowns out the sound of the the music being played.   To compound matters, the reservoir for holding the dust and detritus being vacuumed isn't properly separated from the tape-playing mechanism, so the toe-tapping usually comes to a grinding halt.