Hasta La Ideas

Promotion: New York-based artist Ran Ortner has created a bespoke speaker finish for Scottish audio brand Linn based on sonic and oceanic rhythms.

Called Triton, the black, satin-like finish produced by Linn is an ode to waves – both sound and ocean waves depicted in Ortner‘s vast, multi-layer oil paintings.

The slate-black colour is described by the artist as “a rich tritone” made up of elements of all the primary colours in a smooth, 8-layer lacquered coat with a subtle sheen that was designed to reflect the luminosity and shifting colours found in Ortner’s work.

“Incorporating both its description as a tritone, and in homage to Ran’s deep connection with the oceanic, we have named his signature finish ‘Triton’, after the Greek demigod of the sea,” said Linn Products’ CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun. “It will be the first in our Signature Collection, joining the established Glasgow and Classic Collections in our range.”

Available as an optional finish for the brand’s 360 speakers and LP12 plinths, the bespoke finish was originally developed for the custom Linn Klimax audio system designed specifically for Ortner’s studio in Dumbo, New York.

“In the pageantry and boundless exuberance of the oceanic, I see the dance of life,” explains Ortner, who said he bought his first Linn speaker as a younger man. “In the colour of waters, I see beautifully engaging, mercurial complexity. I see Tritones; rich, shifting greys composed of all three primary colours.”

“We were considering these ideas in the development of the finish for my Linn speakers,” he added.

“We wanted an alchemic, rich ground; a complexity – densely sensual – that moves. In one moment cool, in the next warm; a hovering liminal finish, unfastened,” Ortner continued. “Here in my Brooklyn studio, the stunning musicality of my Linn Klimax System is wonderfully supported by the speakers’ finish.”

Following the publication of a video and blog documenting the creation of Ortner’s bespoke audio system on Linn’s website, the finish garnered positive feedback, prompting Linn and Ortner to make the finish available to all of its customers.

Linn was founded by Glaswegian mechanical engineer Ivor Tiefenbrun in 1973. The company made its name with its first-ever product, the modular and upgradeable Sondek LP12, which is considered a classic turntable.

To find out more about the Triton finish by Ran Ortner for Linn visit the Linn website.

The photography is by Fyodor Shiryaev and Joe Rodger.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Linn. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Linn and artist Ran Ortner collaborate on speaker that recalls ocean waves appeared first on Dezeen.