Red Stripe have embarked on a video series collaborating with different artists to celebrate the brand’s Jamaican roots, and do a bit of recycling along the way. The first project, ‘Make Something from Nothing’ saw sound artist Yuri Suzuki create a truly unique sculpture.
Suzuki and his team were provided with thousands of Red Stripe beer cans gathered at Notting Hill Carnival. Suzuki collaborated with designer Matthew Kneebone to design and build the 2.5 metre tall sound sculpture by binding cans together into blocks and attaching them to a frame. Once assembled, it was tested by DJ Al Fingers and singer/songwriter Gappy Ranks. They hooked up Finger’s equipment to the recycled speaker and Ranks improvised his own lyrics into a Red-Stripe-can microphone.
After a great test run, the unique sound system was launched at a party at the Village Underground in London. A series of reggae and dub artists and DJs performed their sets through the system, including headliners Ben UFO and MC Chunky. While enjoying the music and admired the sculpture, the crowd were provided with Jamaican jerk chicken, rice and peas, as well as lots of Red Stripe.
The project successfully married the creativity of recycled art with the Jamaican culture of do-it-yourself music. Stay tuned for more videos.