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Doo Rags
Olaf Ladousse has created Doo Rags, clever musical instruments made of recycled objects and toys. |
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Doo Rags made from a sound game and WC cleaner |
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Olaf Ladousse
Illustrator, industrial designer, musician, and creator of clever electronic components that produce music. Olaf Ladousse, of mutant nationality, has combined his knowledge of music (he’s played in groups for over 15 years) with his skills in Industrial Design, in order to make little musical instruments which he’s named Doo Rags in honor of a group from Arizona that goes by the same name whose leader, Bob Log III, included some recycled instruments in his set.
Doo Rags
To create Doo Rags, Olaf uses discarded objects and objects found in containers on the street, such as broken old toys, as well as little treasures bought at Five&Dime shops. Any object that reaches his hands is liable to become a Doo Rag. He’s created over 150 to date.
The first was a thermometer with a smiley face, legs and arms, that he made over 15 years ago at one of the first editions of a fair organized by Drap-Art, an association that promotes creative recycling. From that moment on, he began creating different electronic devices using all sorts of objects such as a hair dryer, a red lid full of holes from lollipop store displays, cleaning supply packaging, toy bulls, walkmans, keyboards...
Doo Rags Manufacturing Manual
Olaf has published a brief manual, available in French, English, and Spanish, for anyone who would like to make a Doo Rag at home. The booklet, which he illustrated himself, teaches you how to turn a toy galactic gun purchased at a Five&Dime into a clever musical instrument. You’ll need a mini-Jack connector, some wire, a potentiometer, and, of course, a bit of skill, in order to “become DJ Super Cool and boast about using analogical, galactic, home-made and Chinese samplers.”
LCDD
Although these little instrument are perfect to use as decorative objects, Doo Rags can also be used to make music. But, what do Doo Rags sound like? If you’re curious to know, you must listen to LCDD, a music group made up of Olaf and other members such as Mulasaña, the Dresde Mare or the Colt from Cascorro, among others. These letters stand for the Dusseldorf Horses, although the band’s members define themselves as an open group and encourage all Doo Rag fans to act using their name, and even use this acronym to create another group such as The DooRag Gathering, or whatever is convenient on any given occasion.
LCDD make music using Doo Rags they themselves create. The gaudy and colorful instruments, the "battery-powered electronic" sound they produce and the show of cleverness and creativity they emit make each performance an extraordinary sensory experience.
In addition to playing in several cities in Spain, they’ve also traveled around the world: Belgium, France, Germany and Japan, where they gave 7 concerts. You can read the article published in Ping Mag magazine here.
Next time you’re about to clean house, think carefully about what you throw out. Anything can become a Doo Rag!
Links
Olaf Ladousse’s Website
cefolaf Photolog
Pictures of the DooRags on Flickr – Papel Continuo
Manual for Making Doo Rags (Spanish, English and French)
LCDD’s Myspace
LCDD’s Japanese Tour
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(5 Jan 2009)
(3 Nov 2008)
(1 Sep 2008)
(15 Jan 2009)
(15 Jan 2009)
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