Beatles – White Revolution

Taiwanese artist Rutherford Chang has himself a unique Beatles collection. He collects copies of the first pressing of their 1969 album, which has been dubbed The White Album.

The albums are exhibited in the Recess gallery in New York City, which has been made to look like a record store. The exhibit is called We Buy White Albums and Chang says, "The albums arranged in bins by serial number, and visitors are invited to browse and listen to the records. Except, rather than sell the albums, I am buying more. I currently have 693 copies." He says he was drawn to The White Album because it "has the best cover... I’m most interested in the albums as objects and observing how they have aged. So for me, a Beatles album with an all white cover is perfect... In fact I often find the 'poorer' condition albums more interesting."

When the exhibit ends on March 9th, the archive Chang has accumulated will live on, as he plans to "press a new double-LP made from all the recordings layered upon each other. It will be like playing a few hundred copies of the White Album at once, each scratched and warped in its own way."

Chang started his collection seven years ago. The most he's paid for a copy of the White Album is $20, and he's managed to pick up copies for as little as $1.