Releasing a documentary about album art in the age of streaming, when the 12 x 12 inch cover has given way to the digital thumbnail, seems almost quaint. But not for director Anton Corbijn. His latest film shows that these physical album covers possess an appeal that lasts and even defies time, especially ones as lavishly crafted as Hipgnosis.
Squaring the circle features a portrait of the legendary British design collective, founded in 1968 by Cambridge boys Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell, who were behind some of the most iconic and innovative album covers of our time. Led Zeppelin’s psychedelic-hued clutch Houses of the Holythe prismatic rainbow over Pink Floyd’s The dark side of the moonthe dynamic composition of Wings’ Runaway group– these and many more have emerged from the shambolic studio of Hipgnosis over a period of 15 years.
Pink Floyd, The dark side of the moon (1973). Work of Hipgnosis. Photo courtesy of Hipgnosis Ltd.
“Out of chaos can come very beautiful things,” Corbijn told Artnet News. “If you have a good idea, you can’t fail. Good ideas are where it all begins. Some of the album covers are very much of their time, but some really stand the test of time.
It’s a logical exit for Corbjin, who, in addition to being U2 and Depeche Mode’s longtime go-to photographer, shot in 2007 Control, a beautiful biopic on Ian Curtis, the leader of Joy Division. But according to the director, he was reluctant to be typecast as the guy who makes movies about music. Still, he was ultimately swayed by Powell, who introduced him to the project: “He’s really a seller,” Corbijn said.
The Hipgnosis group [from left]: Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell and Storm Thorgerson. Photo: © Hipgnosis Ltd.
And Po, too, serves as a living guide through Squaring the circle. In startling detail, he recalls his friendship with Thorgerson, Hipgnosis’ work with the musicians of his day (especially, Pink Floyd), and the company’s closure in 1983. It’s a story told mostly through archival footage and talking heads, including names. like Roger Waters, Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney and Noel Gallagher. More compelling, however, are the stories and ideas behind Hipgnosis’ most striking covers.
Why did the image of a cow end up on the packaging of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother (1970)? Well, Thorgerson just thought of creating a cover that was “completely meaningless”, drove out of London and took a picture of the first cow he saw. How did Hipgnosis stage and embellish every drop of water on Peter Gabriel’s 1977 album cover? With a garden hose, then by hand, then with a scalpel.
Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (1973). Work of Hipgnosis. Work of Hipgnosis. Photo courtesy of Hipgnosis Ltd.
Focused on a time before Photoshop (or AI generators, for that matter), the documentary highlights the studio’s predominant use of photography, as well as the analog and daring lengths it would go to for illustration. of a disk.
For 10cc coverage Look, do you hear? (1980), which featured a visual of a sheep on a psychiatrist’s couch positioned on a beach, Hipgnosis traveled to Hawaii to photograph a real sheep on a psychiatrist’s couch on a beach. For Wings’ 1978 greatest hits compilation, preceded by an image of a statue of Demetre Chiparus against a snowy background, the sculpture was flown to Everest and photographed from a helicopter. For Pink Floyd’s inner sleeve wish you were Here (1975), depicting a man on fire, the band, well, set a man on fire.
THE Look, do you hear? sheep. Photo: Aubrey Powell, © Hipgnosis Ltd.
The elaborate effort and resources devoted to these productions speaks to the heyday of the industry in the 1960s-70s, when bands dominated stadiums, owned private jets, and still had money to spend on a cover art. deeply conceptualized album. It was a moment that, also documented in Squaring the circle, would be swept away by the advent of punk and its disjointed, DIY aesthetic. And as Gallagher laments in the film, streaming has further reduced the record cover to a few tight pixels on a Spotify playlist.
The documentary seems a kind of elegy for a declining art form. But for Corbijn, he hopes it will open up “a new world” to young audiences, especially following a vinyl revival. If nothing else, Squaring the circle remains a reminder of a medium that, in Gallagher’s words, enables a poor man to amass an art collection.
“Great album covers will always be great album covers,” Corbijn said. “I don’t know if it’s art in the end. I don’t know and maybe I don’t care either.
The squaring of the circle is projected to Cinema Forum until June 15.
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