Storm Thorgerson

An inflatable flying pig. A pair of colossal metallic heads. Light refracted through a prism. Visual artist Storm Thorgerson has introduced enough emblematic symbols into the pantheon of rock music to be considered something of a rock star himself. In many cases, his images are as recognizable as the music they represent. In addition to his best-known work with Pink Floyd, Thorgerson has created still-life cinema for Led Zeppelin, The Cranberries, The Catherine Wheel, Muse, The Mars Volta and many others.

After more than three decades, Thorgerson has launched his first North American tour of art galleries. Dubbed “Taken By Storm,” the show travels until early 2006. On the eve of opening night at Chicago’s Inspire Fine Art, Mr. Thorgerson offered comments on a handful of his iconic works.

1. Gentlemen Without Weapons: Transmissions
If I were to describe myself, I’d say in part that I’m a performance artist. I do “happenings” involving people, props, sculptures and so on. These events happen quite briefly and cannot be repeated for the large public, so we record them using photography. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see them at all. Sometimes, they’re quite difficult to erect. For instance, Transmissions is a line of telegraph poles stretching across the country, with people sitting on top of them. It was unbelievably difficult to do, and that’s real. What you see is what you get.

2. Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
I gave a lecture in Japan, which was a real hoot. I began with this image. I asked, “is this picture for real?” They said, “yes.” I said, “do you think I’m the kind of man who burns somebody for a picture?” They said, “no, no!” I said, “do you think the fire is unreal?” They said, “yes.” So, I said, “do you think I cheat you as the viewer?” They were very confused.

This image is trying to confuse you by putting a man on fire, while he’s behaving as though he wasn’t. That makes the fire metaphorical. In a sense, this is about absence and avoiding emotional pain, which is what the record’s about. I thought it worked very well—especially after Dark Side of the Moon, which was really difficult to follow.

3. The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute
Someone told me this picture represented current American attitudes toward kidnapping or terrorism. To me, that’s not remotely what it’s about. This is a picture of hooded drivers. The hoods are self-imposed. One might think, “why drivers, and not people walking in the street?” I saw these people as navigators, in charge of their movement. If they’re wearing hoods, how can they see to navigate? I always thought of this as a metaphorical picture about an imposed blindness. Toward what, I won’t tell you.

4. The Catherine Wheel: Wishville (“Eyes on trees”)
We went illegally into a wood of silver birches, and bespoiled them by sticking five hundred eyeballs on them. We nailed the photographs down to keep them from blowing away. It wasn’t pro the environment, on reassessment. But then, art doesn’t necessarily have time for politics—or does it? ... Or should it?

5. Peter Gabriel: Car
I always thought the water droplets looked amazing. We sprayed my old Italian car, and the wax caused the water to gather through surface tension. The little lumps are very reflective and have a highlight. What I did was to exaggerate the highlight by scratching each one individually. The retoucher said he was mad to have agreed to do it.

Also, I liked this because it’s a picture about Pete Gabriel, but you can’t really see him. He’s there, but not there.

For more information on Storm Thorgerson and his works, visit www.takenbystorm.us