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What if obsolescence marks the beginning? When our usefulness and utility is often contextualized by how useful it is for capitalism, maybe once its labeled as useless is when its life can really begin.

I saw a listing for an overhead projector on Craigslist, and knew I had to get it. The owner talked about how they were used to created psychedelic projections at parties, then he showed me a transparency of a bird photo he took with his camera.

I think the projection of light creates an interesting canvas to work with, where objects can be seen in a new light. I gathered some leftover objects related to sound that were also part of an obsolete era, components from a cassette tape and some jewel cases. With digital music providing a more "efficient" form for music, the objects that supported sound is left behind. Here they are repurposed and given a new role, as visual components in an overhead projector composition. The multi-color CD cases were from a huge stack I got at a thrift store, and I can't recall where the cassette came from but wouldn't be surprised if it also came from a thrift store.

The interesting thing is that the magnetic tape on the top-left "contains" the song, while the CD jewel cases also "contain" the songs, by containing a CD. The two cassette tape slip sheet—rarely thought about pieces of paper—exist to act as a buffer between the magnetic tape and the case, so it acts to "contain" as well. These layers of direct and indirect containment, and contain being used abstractly and literally, points towards the difficultly in pinning down where something resides.

It points towards the fluidity of the art and creativity that capitalism hopes to contain. Capital is invested in the idea that the music is in the cassette tape, but by breaking it into its components, its hard to determine what aspect is really the music—seems like it's not even here in this case. And when capital decides to artificially create boundaries and borders around where the art is at—maybe they think the magnetic tape with the wave information is the music, they extract without understanding. They create an MP3 file that might be understood as music, but there's a reason that music fans then turn to collecting vinyl and cassette tapes.

The reality is that the song itself is music, but so is the cover art. The jewel case is music too. And yes, the cassette tape slip sheets are music as well. An argument about form is a worthwhile argument because to understand the objects around us as parts of a larger amorphous, fluid, wavy reality of relationships and ideas is to commit to a reality that capitalism can not contain.