This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Alexandrea Ciardella. Find her on Instagram at @a6ysma1. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
If you’re familiar with the music scene, or even the antique/historical scene, you may have heard the word “zoetrope” be thrown around a few times. But even if you’ve never heard of it before, you still have to admit that it’s a unique optical illusion once you see it. Using multiple images that slightly change over time, the viewer instead sees a moving image before them. But how does this relate to vinyl records? And how do zoetrope vinyls work when played on a record?
The zoetrope trend can be dated back to the Victorian era, in which a cylindrical device called a zoetrope would rotate and show off moving images. Using small slits in the spinning cylinder, you could view the interior of the zoetrope and see the still images move. This was the precursor to film, in which multiple images would slowly change to reveal a “movie”.
This technique is translated to vinyl records, where the images on the plate are slightly different than the ones next to it. It’s kind of like a flipbook, where multiple images give off the illusion of movement. When viewed from above, the images appear to move on their own and are accompanied by music now! The trick is to pick one spot to focus on, instead of trying to look at the whole vinyl at once and watch the image move.
Even though this is an incredible effect to have on a vinyl, very few records have this effect and they have limited prints of these vinyls. Despite this, the zoetropes that do exist are incredible to watch, accompanied by amazing music as well. Here are a few of our top picks for zoetrope vinyls:
Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer, Different Park
Kacey Musgraves has a zoetrope vinyl for her album Same Trailer, Different Park. It’s design features dandelions blooming on one side of the vinyl and arrows shooting out on the other side.
Various Artists – The Nightmare Before Christmas (Original Motion Soundtrack)
A bit easier to obtain, The Nightmare Before Christmas zoetrope is available on Amazon and features images of beloved characters such as Jack Skellington, Sally, and Oogie Boogie.
The Spice Girls – Spice, 25th Anniversary
Featuring a swirling spiral and a beating logo, Spice’s 25th Anniversary zoetrope is a must-have for Spice Girl fans who need to add that extra pop of color to their vinyl collection.
Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
Bombay Bicycle Club’s zoetrope features images of people walking as the sun sets and rises, providing a very colorful vinyl.
Wham! The Singles
Wham! came out with a special zoetrope album with many of their hit singles pressed on it! The design is elaborate with several layers of different moving images! There is dancing and more—icluding their band name near the center bouncing around as the record spins!
Do you own a zoetrope vinyl? Which one? How do zoetrope vinyls work? Let us know in the comments below!
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