Admit it, we all like to gawk at gear. We've all got those gear catalogs stacked in the bathroom where most men (or ladies) have their "I read it for the articles) magazines. Still, there might not be a one of you out there more into the pure aesthetic attraction of gear then former Urban Verves guitarist / keyboardist turned painter Robin Rose. While Rose typically focuses on encaustic (hot wax(!)) painting inspired by abstract expressionism, his most recent installation at Washington DC's American University Museum plies a medium near and dear to his, and our, hearts: gear.

Shown in the lead pic at the upper right are two of the pieces in Robin Rose's Cypher installation. The one on the right is entitled Ascendant and makes use of a 1965 Fender Stratocaster and a Marshall JCM 800 Lead half-stack. The piece on the left is called Isolation, and features 50 effects pedals. At the base position is the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi. While there are many other brands in there, Electro-Harmonix were the ones who posted this story on their blog, so we're giving them the headline-status props.

Isolation by Robin Rose (Detail)

The pedals are arranged so that there's no in point or out point. Bummer. I guess we'll never know what a twenty-five (or so) gain stage into a duodecuple-tap delay sounds like, though I'm guess the answer is "annoying" (though we would have also accepted "Brian Eno.")

Isolation by Robin Rose

FUN GAME! Name ever single one of the rest of the effects pedals used in Isolation, and we'll send you. . . an email! The email will say something congratulatory / gently mocking! Yay!

Images courtesy of the artist and Hemphill. Photography by Brandon Webster.