Dosshaus: Creative Collective Releases 1st Official Record Made Entirely of Cardboard

By: Dec. 12, 2017
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Dosshaus: Creative Collective Releases 1st Official Record Made Entirely of Cardboard

From Sympathy for the Record Industry comes Paper-Thin Hotel, the debut double 7" single from Los Angeles-based artists Dosshaus. Known for sculpture, fashion, and installations that present fantasy worlds made entirely of recycled cardboard; Dosshaus has frequently paid homage to the music that has influenced their art. With Paper-Thin Hotel, the creative collective of Zoey Taylor and David Connelly examines the role of visual art in music.

A collaboration with Sympathy's Long Gone John, Dosshaus' Paper-Thin Hotelhas the distinction of being the first officially released record to be made entirely of cardboard. In the music industry, packaging can be as important as content. Dosshaus invites would-be listeners to experience the artwork of Paper-Thin Hoteland imagine their own music, thus giving everyone a unique, subjective experience. In the words of Long Gone John himself, "The first time I heard Dosshaus, I knew they had instantly become my favorite new band."

When fans purchase the single they'll receive a download link for four "songs" on the record, which is actually ambient sound recorded insidetheir art studio. Dosshaus share: "The track titles on our record are all titles that have been recorded by real musicians. 'Paper-Thin Hotel' is the title of a Leonard Cohen song, 'Trash' was recorded by the New York Dolls, 'Images' is the name of a track about Andy Warhol by Lou Reed and John Cale, and '(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures' is the name of a song by The Rezillos. The ambient sound we've recorded for each track is the same running time as the real song (i.e. Paper-Thin Hotel is 5:42, Trash is 3:08, etc.)"

In addition, the single includes images of Dosshaus "recording" the album in their "studio," which features studio equipment and instruments they made entirely with recycled carboard. Careful observers of the packaging will notice references to Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and Andy Warhol.

In connection with this release (but not included in the packaging), Dosshaus created a number of paper homages to their musical heroes. Says Dosshaus, "This entire project is about packaging and the iconic imagery of the music industry. Since we are artists and not musicians, we used our collaboration with Long Gone John as a way to wrap ourselves in the iconography of the music industry. It made sense to us to take it another step further from the record and into our cardboard art/fashion since our connection to the music world is surface level (paper-thin). Our 'Paper-Thin' homages include Patti Smith, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Sex Pistols, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, and David Bowie." Click here to download images to each musician homage (examples below).

Track Listing for Paper-Thin Hotel:

Disc One

Side A

Paper-Thin Hotel

Side B

Trash

Disc Two

Side C

Images

Side D

(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures

A limited edition of 300 copies of Paper-Thin Hotel is being released this Friday(12/15) on Dosshaus' official website and will advance their upcoming solo exhibition, of the same name, being hosted at Los Angeles' Corey Helford Gallery from April 7 through May 5, 2018.

Dosshaus is the creative collaboration of Zoey Taylor and David Connelly, artists whose work blends painting, sculpture, photography, fashion, video, and performance. From the outset, the pair has been interested in the intersection of high and low culture. Responding to a society saturated with social media-generated images in which reality itself seems more and more relative, Dosshaus explores the impact the emerging culture has on the way people view themselves and their place in society. They seek to create something out of that culture - a substitute reality that selectively accepts and rejects the conventions placed upon them individually as people and collectively as artists. They use recycled cardboard, paper, acrylic paint and glue as their primary mediums to fashion their own highly idealized universe. The works themselves invert the very idea of the readymade. These are highly manipulated, sculpted pieces that give the illusion of everyday objects from an alternate, animated dimension. This cardboard world is at once separate from and a comment on our modern culture.

Their work has been featured by Juxtapoz, Vice, Huffington Post, and the book The Art of Cardboard.

For more info, visit DOSSHAUS.com and follow @leDosshaus on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.



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