The Vinyl Frontier

If you told people you were a DJ way before Beck proclaimed that two turntables and a microphone was "where it's at," it could only mean a couple of things -- you were broke and lonely. Broke because you spent all your money on a pair of Technics and a crossfader, lonely since you were too busy trying to beat-match records to pick up chicks. These days, you've come a long way, baby, because the DJ is de-rigueur. Now you're a rock star with a model girlfriend to prove it.

Record spinner and artist Sean Duffy has created a brave new world where everyone is a DJ with his interactive "Sean Duffy: The Grove" installation. Twenty speakers that are connected to 18 turntables hang suspended from the ceiling. At each station, there's a selection of vinyl with everything from vocals to instrumentals. Visitors can spin the records and manipulate the soundscape, and the whole thing is connected to more than 400 souped-up speakers.