Electric sockets, used vinyl, colored pencils, neglected household appliances, endlessly revolving actuators and cars—this discarded junk forms the The Rotators. Wildly gyrating, jingling, clinking and clanking, these instrumental sculptures make up the best of what DIY garage rock technology has to offer. The frontman and mastermind engineer behind these “human scale drum machines” is Japanese artist Ujino Muneteru, who’s been turning the mechanical into rhythmical spectacles for years now.Sourcing his components and parts from secondhand stores, most of his material tends to predate 1989. Like any other vintage-hoarder, Ujino prefers it that way. From turntables to hair dryers, The Rotators play automatically as a rhythmic unit, keeping time thanks to the core instrument that brings it all together—the Rotatorhead. Sort of like a music box but in the form of a disk, the Rotatorhead comprises a vinyl with stubby colored pencil dimples embedded on the surface. By setting the vinyl on the turntable and turning it on, the dimples hit switches attached to a bridge, triggering the other appliances.Through his performances with The Rotators, Ujino invigorates a poignant commentary on disposable culture. Founded on the trash heap of mass consumption and disposal, Ujino’s one-man band revitalizes waste to perform and assume a new purpose. It’s the perfect blend of post-Dadaism and noise-industrial dreams.
FYI.
This story is over 5 years old.
UJINO And The Rotators: A Machine-Based One-Man Band
Japanese sound sculpturist Ujino Muneteru makes music with pre-90s junk.