RE-DUO. Collaboration with Jo-Anne Balcaen. Photos by Matthew Forbes. (2012)

Colour ink jet on paper, 
vinyl record sleeve with vinyl record, 
each approx. 12" x 12" 
Photo: Matthew Forbes, Donna Akrey, Jo-Anne Balcaen

In the spirit of collaboration and a “no-pressure” work ethic, Jo-Anne Balcaen (http://www.joannebalcaen.ca/) and I produced a series of 13 portraits that re-stage vinyl record covers of famous rock, pop, folk and country music duos from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

Three basic rules were set. First, we could only work with albums we either owned, or could purchase at Death of Vinyl / La Fin du Vinyle, our neighbourhood vinyl record shop for which the project was originally conceived and exhibited in April-May 2012. Second, we could only use clothing we either already owned, or which could be found at our local thrift store in a single shopping trip. Finally, any props such as facial hair, backgrounds, etc., could only be fashioned from materials readily found in Jo-Anne's studio. Working within this self-imposed limit of equipment and skills, we cast ourselves as Hall and Oates, WHAM!, Simon and Garfunkel, and more, all in an effort to capture the emotional – if not physical – essence of their image.


Exhibition history: La Fin du Vinyle / Death of Vinyl, Montréal (2012), Dr. Disc, Hamilton (2014)