Daniel R Small

The Eternal Recurrence of the Same, 2010

A .46 carat synthetic diamond was produced by extracting the artist’s carbon from an 8 gram hair sample that was then packed and compressed inside a diamond press that recreated the heat and pressure of the Earth. After a year in the press, a rough diamond was obtained that was then precision ground and faceted to .7 thousandths of an inch at its point to enable LP play back as the needle for a pneumatic phonograph. However, due to the large mass of the diamond, the angle that was cut is several micrometres wider than the record groove causing it to sporadically serve as the pick up for play back while also routing the record out and destroying the information encrypted into the grooves. The routing of the record also alters the optics of the diamond hourglass shape mirrored in the record as the static charge surrounding it attracts the shavings and dust from the record that then cling to the outside of the diamond. Despite the seemingly unique originality of the diamond creation process, it is made up of the banal matter that is within all organic compounds and therefore completely interchangeable with any other person or object.

The Lincoln 50 pneumatic phonograph that the synthetic diamond was fitted for was obtained from the estate of the Lincoln engineering family, was manufactured in 1949, and uses a vacuum pump system that actuates every movement of the changer. This vacuum system displaces the matter contained within the vacuum lines and in doing so takes away the medium that sound travels through because there are few molecules to compress and decompress on. Then, it uses this pressure to actuate pistons that produce sound by moving the mechanisms that serve to play the record in normal atmospheric pressure. Essentially, the changers play back is actuated by nothing, and the lack of sound in the vacuum ultimately produces sound and becomes an inverse of this process in the vacuum of space.

The recorded vinyl audio on Side A was obtained from translating a single cell’s communication after readings were made using an EEG that usually measures human brain waves. The Side B audio was obtained from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and is a compilation of radio waves heard from nearby pulsars (dead rotating stars that can be heard as waves when listening at distinct frequencies facing towards the Earth).

Jorge Hiller, a German violinist who, after his passing in 2009, was cremated along with his violin, was synthesized into a precision faceted diamond that was used as a phonograph needle to play back his violin music that had been recorded to vinyl during his lifetime.

The Voyager Interstellar Disc launched into space in 1977 and included images, sounds, and greetings from Earth depicting the time and place of their origin to other intelligent civilizations on a 12” copper plated disc with accompanying stylus and instructions for play back.

A Lincoln 50 pneumatic record changer obtained from the estate of the Lincoln Engineering family. The pneumatic changers movements are actuated entirely from a vacuum pump system. This was the first unit capable of playing 33, 45, 78rpm records, flipping the record upside down to play the B Side using a vacuum seal and was used as a commercial unit in department stores to play Muzak. The Lincoln was utilized for these purposes because it could be played for up to 16 hours with no maintenance.