“Music is also at the center of a lot of things I do… because it’s such a strong way to communicate with people… It’s a universal language.”
—Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay’s dynamic synthesis of art, photography, appropriation and music is brilliantly evident in Body Mix, a series of works he created in 1991 and 1992 where he combined contemporary album covers to purposeful effect. In Hot August Night, Marclay stitches together the cover and back cover of Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night and Schoolly D’s Livin' In The Jungle, respectively. Here, the playful figural juxtaposition—the unifying theme of the series—is layered with the additional contrast of musical genres.
1991 was a watershed moment within the history of music, marking the first time a rap group, NWA, achieved the top selling album on the Billboard 200. With Diamond’s 1972 album representing the old guard and Schoolly D’s 1989 album representing the vanguard, Marclay’s work highlights the shift as it was unfolding while foreshadowing the cultural dissonance that would arise from the explosion of hip hop into mainstream music.
