19th Century technology meets 21st Century music over a bottle of beer in the latest extension to the Beck’s Record Label project. This time, the art label has evolved, and been replaced by the grooves of Auckland band Ghost Wave.
Their new single was inscribed into the surface of a beer bottle which could then be played on a specially-built device based on Thomas Edison’s original phonograph.
The idea originated with creative agency Shine in Auckland NZ, but making the world’s first playable beer bottle was a formidable technical challenge. The clever people at Gyro Constructivists first had to design and build a record-cutting lathe, driven by a hard drive recording head. Then they reinvented Edison’s original cylinder player, using modern materials and electronics and built to very fine tolerances. The Edison Bottle made its public debut at SemiPermanent in Auckland recently to a standing ovation from the assembled media and design community.
