Photo: Sticker Removals Archive
Everybody has one of these at home: a CD case or record sleeve with beautiful artwork but no text – and then there’s a small, colourful sticker in the upper righthand corner saying »Artist XYZ, super cool album«, or saying »Magazine such-and-such highly recommends purchasing this hit single«. Whether an album cover is blank and information-less or traditionally informative, the so-called hype sticker supplements any sound recording with a second, peelable layer »mediating between the cultural and the consumer spheres«, as Germany’s the Sticker Removals Archive put it.
Today, in the age of the vinyl renaissance, stickers are finally becoming recognised as important design elements. But there’s yet to be scholarly hype around these hype stickers. The Sticker Removals Archive has taken it upon themselves to remedy this deplorable state of affairs with a detailed exhibition, displaying no artworks for once, but lots of affirmative sticker design.