The appearance of most audio equipment is seldom given thoughtful attention, and its impact on the domestic interior is frequently ignored. For this turntable, Jensen applied strict aesthetic criteria, emphasizing a horizontal profile and the clarity of basic geometric forms. Jensen, who has designed products for Bang & Olufsen since the late 1960s, dislikes conventional dials and knobs, and frequently reinvents the way in which controls appear and are used. His turntables are distinguished by an innovative use of a tone arm that moves tangentially, rather than diagonally, over the plane of the record.
The Danish manufacturer Bang & Olufsen, established in the late 1920s, has produced radios, phonographs, televisions, VCRs, and acoustic components-all sleek, well-detailed appliances intended to reform the way electronic equipment looks and even functions, as well as how the user interacts with it. Interestingly, Bang & Olufsen designers often mask the function of an object in favor of a handsome appearance that highlights the quality of its materials.
Publication excerpt from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 297.