One of the largest collection of ’80s/’90s-era boomboxes is going up for auction. Craig Kenton, a 45-year-old man who lives in Dunedin, New Zealand, is trying to sell the nearly 400-item wall of sound as a whole, which he values at $20,000 NZ (around $15,000 US). “If I just sold the top 20 they would reach $20,000,” Kenton told Stuff NZ. “But I would prefer to sell them as a collection.” Among the prizes in his collection: the Sharp Gf-1000, a first-gen Lasonic 931, the Crown 970, Disco Lite, Promax J1, JVC M70, Aimor ST-809Sl and, obviously, lots more. (I wonder if he’s got that sweet Yorx boombox I had as a kid?) His favorite is the Sanyo Big Ben: “It’s called that because of the eight-inch subwoofer it has in the middle of it. It’s quite rare, that one.” You can check out more of his collection, and place your bid, here. The auction closes, Monday, August 1.
For boombox enthusiasts on this side of the world, Brooklyn Museum is currently hosting an exhibition called Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016:
Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016 features eighteen works that highlight the artist’s ability to inventively transform ordinary, everyday materials into art. With wit and ingenuity, he creates boom box sculptures that play music and activate the space, turning it into an immersive sound environment. The work is programmed with playlists that go on sequentially throughout our public hours.
The installation includes Toyan’s (2002), a group of speakers eight feet tall by twelve feet across inspired by Jamaican sound systems, and Presidential Vampire Booth (2002), complete with a stocked bar and Presidential seal. Sachs’s work is crafted from a wide range of materials such as plywood, foamcore, batteries, duct tape, wires, hot glue, and solder.
Boombox Retrospective runs through August 14. You might want to check it out this Thursday (7/28) as part of the museum’s Thursday Nights series, with Julianna Huxtable DJing from 6-9 PM (and David Byrne speaking elsewhere in the museum).