Matthew McCarthy upcycles vinyl, showcasing Jamaican music aesthetic

In Jamaica, news headlines are constantly being manipulated by recording artistes into hits enthusiastically consumed by the population. The hottest songs often serve as record of the island’s social and political landscape of the period in which was released. Gallery curator Kerry Chen, in seeking to explore this phenomenon, commissioned street artist Matthew McCarthy for her latest project in two parts called Dubbing 62 - Side A: Babylon + Zion. In it, they highlight reggae music as philosophy and a direct response to social conditions through the messages in Jamaican music beginning in 1954 and ending in 1979.

The art, currently on display at 10A West King’s House Road, can be found painted on upcycled vinyl records donated to Matthew McCarthy from various sources. They hang behind glass panels and depict scenes in a classic two-toned ska illustration style, capturing themes the artist noted as he listened to the songs each piece is based on. The experience is fully taken advantage of by listening as you view to a curated playlist of the songs accessed via QR code at the gallery. McCarthy, Chen, and the director and curator of the Jamaican Music Museum, Herbie Miller, took care in selecting the music for this body of work not by the popularity of the musician or the song, but by the message communicated.

“[Dubbing 62 Side A: Babylon + Zion] is the idea of trying to contextualise ‘Babylon’. It’s such an abstract term. [Kerry, Herbie, and I] started looking into the idea of what were the oppressing factors at the time each song was written and then politics ended up being this big thing. Everywhere you turn, it’s just the politics of the day. It’s what happens when power becomes so influential that even the musicians are talking about it. [Politics] is the agent of ‘Babylon’ in a way,” he said.

McCarthy, in creating art specific to each song, attempted to mimic the effect of a window through which viewers could observe the politics of the time, with a few modern-day references, seen through the eyes of the musician. He stays true to the vinyl records, using their circular shape for his characters’ bodies and movements, often painting them with lines reminiscent of music notes, bending to the will of their canvas. This is evident in Side A’s last piece, Babylon Don’t Like Dreadlocks, named after and based on Leroy Smart’s song of the same name. It portrays a police vehicle depicted in red, white, and blue, chasing from the bottom of the record a spliff-toting Rastaman in green and yellow, escaping on a motorcycle at the top. It is a static scene but clearly represented, where an observer immediately imagines it animated if the record were placed on a turntable. Music aficionados might cringe at McCarthy’s alteration of the classic music storage medium, but the artist sees it as highlighting its beauty. During his creative process, he describes his appreciation of vinyl, and his resolve for upcycling and preserving the instrument in a creative way hardened.

Explaining, he said,“Vinyl is a beautiful artform in of itself. It’s always visually stunning seeing a record being played. Even just having that as a basis, my appreciation for vinyl records grew. I hope people see this as an intention to upcycle something that’s fading away … I wanted to represent Jamaica’s aesthetic when it comes to portraying music [through visual art]. Looking at [renowned dancehall illustrator] Wilfred Limonious and other individuals who portrayed music, the aesthetic is very strong. It was a heavy two-toned ska design aesthetic, and I really want people to know that those individuals are the ones whose shoulders I’m standing on top of. I thought of the vinyl itself as a window like someone’s going to be able to jump through. I thought I would force perspective to allow you to enter [the world of the song]. If you notice what I did with the middle of the vinyl, I tried to be very clever with them so that it could vanish from people’s minds that this is just a record.”

The art represented in Dubbing 62 Side A: Babylon + Zion is unique both in medium and in the way it progresses along the timeline of the music it is based on, in theme, style, and focus. Through a distinctively Jamaican aesthetic, the project attempts to expand the existing catalogue of Jamaican art and history. The title references the translation of music to visual art in ‘dubbing,’ with the ‘62’ nodding to the 62nd anniversary of Jamaica’s political independence and also signifying the number of pieces created. McCarthy underlines the importance of this documentation and expresses his satisfaction in being able to contribute to it.

“I’m glad that I’m able to assimilate these ideas and make it easier for someone after me to look and realise [that] there actually is an aesthetic in Jamaica. When I was creating this record I was thinking that if you make art, you’re leaving a record of the time you were here. That’s what these musicians were doing. They were leaving a record of the time they were here.”

entertainment@gleanerjm.com