Undated Records: A Musical Scene From Another Timeline

 

Report problem
*Undated Records is an imaginary indie record label. It consists of an ongoing series of life-size covers (7.25″ or 12.5″ square) for vinyl singles, maxi-singles, and E.P.s by imaginary bands.
MediumDigital prints
CitySan Francisco
US StateCalifornia
CountryUnited States
Websitehttps://undatedrecords.com/

About the Artist

Jay Cornell has been creating Undated Records since 2015. In this timeline, he is Head of Content at RolloutSF, a full-service web design, development, and marketing agency. He’s also the co-author (with R. U. Sirius) of Transcendence: The Disinformation Encyclopedia of Transhumanism and the Singularity.

This unusual and perhaps unique art project is inspired by Dada, Surrealism, pop art, and conceptual art. Each cover uses a minimum of elements to create maximum “meaning” and explore:

  • the subconscious, non-rational, and deeply personal pleasures of music,
  • the ways our minds process partial, ambiguous, and contradictory information by making connections and filling the gaps with assumptions and hopes, and
  • how the synesthesia-like connections between band names, song titles, and commercial music packaging influence our musical experience.

It also evokes the DIY spirit of the alternative, punk, electronic, and dance music of the 1970s-1990s, and the now-vanishing pleasure of discovering new music in record store bins. Each cover is a sort of puzzle that asks: Can you imagine this music, and can you imagine liking it?