Audio-Technica announces that it is a sponsor of Mark Mothersbaugh: Myopia, the first comprehensive retrospective of the Akron, Ohio native’s work, at the Akron Art Museum.
Mothersbaugh is one of the founding members of the rock group DEVO, as well as composer for TV shows and movies including The Rugrats, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the film adaptation of 21 Jump Street and its sequel, and many others. Mothersbaugh attended Kent State University as an art student and has been creating art for more than forty years – before DEVO’s inception in the early 1970’s.
Myopia is being presented jointly at the Akron Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) and runs from May 27 through August 28, 2016. Myopia is a career-spanning traveling exhibition of Mothersbaugh’s creative output and includes works on paper, sculptures, installations, music and videos, spanning his years as a founder of DEVO to his ongoing present-day work as a visual artist and composer.
In addition to providing financial support for the exhibition, Audio-Technica supplied audio products for the exhibit’s listening stations, including their ATH-M20x professional monitor headphones, where attendees can hear music composed by Mothersbaugh including selections from The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Lego Movie and more.
The Audio-Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Belt-Drive Stereo Turntable is on display in the Museum store and on hand to play Mothersbaugh’s new limited-edition vinyl record Myopia – Akron, Ohio, created specially for the Akron exhibition, and which will be available for sale at the Museum.
For the May 28 Akron Art Museum opening day ceremonies, Audio-Technica provided an AT-LP1240-USB direct-drive professional DJ turntable (USB and analog) and ATH-M50x professional monitor headphones for the DJ at the premiere party.
Before the official gallery opening, Mothersbaugh and Adam Lerner, curator of Myopia, as well as director and chief animator, Department of Fabrications at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, gave a talk at the Akron Public Library. At the event, Audio-Technica gave away 10 of its top selling ATH-M50x headphones. Everyone who purchases a shared ticket from Akron Art Museum for admittance to Myopia at both museums in Akron and Cleveland, will be entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win one of two ATH-M50x headphones. (To be eligible to win, the shared ticket must be purchased from Akron Art Museum.)
Audio-Technica will have three giveaways of the limited-edition vinyl record Myopia – Akron, Ohio, signed by Mothersbaugh, with an AT-LP60-USB turntable, on their Facebook page during the exhibit period. Myopia – Akron, Ohio includes six songs by Mothersbaugh: “Where ya gonna go?,” “Babylogna Sandwich,” “Fologijo,” “One Bad Ape,” “Dooperilia” and “My Home Town.” The 12-inch record is pressed into beautiful random colors by Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland, Ohio.
“As a company that’s based in the Akron area near Mark Mothersbaugh’s hometown, we are especially proud to be a sponsor of the Myopia exhibit,” said Gary Boss, Audio-Technica Marketing director. “We share his passion for creativity, which goes far beyond traditional boundaries and which we know will surprise, provoke and delight everyone who attends the exhibit. At Audio-Technica we’re dedicated to helping recording and performing artists achieve their creative visions and enabling listeners everywhere to enjoy the artists’ work the way it was meant to be heard.”
Mark Masuoka, executive director and CEO of the Akron Art Museum, states, “We are honored to present and celebrate Mark Mothersbaugh’s work in his hometown. We’re also proud of the partnership with MOCA Cleveland on Myopia, which we see as part of an ongoing project to enhance the vibrancy of the cultural community in Akron and the region.”