stanley donwood
answers fan's questions (collected on atEase)
// Shots magazine, Nov-Oct 2007
:: originally taken from here
____________________
— What is your creative process when you’re working on new album art? Is it a case that you listen to samples and early recordings and see where
that takes you? Do the band give you a brief? Or, as it seems from the
ongoing works posted on Dead Air Space, is your creative process one
that takes place alongside the band recording new material and
experimenting with new songs?I'm not sure that I have a creative process, or even understand what one is. I've changed in the way that I work in tandem with becoming older, learning more, and forgetting. I don't get a brief. I do hang around in the studio from fairly early on, listening vaguely to whatever's going on. It's frequently the case that I've got my own agenda to some degree or other, although how much of that ends up being part of the work varies considerably. A lot of talking goes on, a lot of thinking, and a huge number of mistakes and wrong turnings. I like to think that the artwork evolves along with the music; this can take a long time, as was the case with Kid A and In Rainbows.
— And following on, at what point did you find out the album was to be called In Rainbows? And how does knowing the title or perhaps the album's themes or lyrics affect your subject choice and palette?
Ha! The album title is always pretty much a last-minute decision. I think the phrase 'in rainbows' was first heard in about December 2006, although it was more as a vague idea rather than a putative album title. There were loads of ideas slithering around. I can't really remember, but I think it landed as a title in about April or May. Knowing the title had nothing [and never has had anything] to do with the way the artwork develops. Although I like the ways the title retrospectively tints the meanings of the images. We knew this was a colourful record almost from the beginning.
— On a psychological level, do you share Thom's fears and paranoia?; Or does your art depict an interpretation of the music and not necessarily your own mindset? Do you find specific lyrics influencing your work or are you responding more generally to a tone or emotion that’s evoked?
That's a peculiar question. I'm not sure that anyone can share, or even know, another's feelings. Fear and paranoia are fairly endemic in our society, oddly perhaps, seeing as we are one of the most cosseted civilisations ever to have existed. I reckon that we probably share a good deal of unpleasant perceptions with the thinking half of the population. So, roughly speaking; I wouldn't be able to illustrate the feelings of another, as it wouldn't even be honest. It'd be like fucking advertising. Specific lyrics do affect what I do, but it's probably more the general atmosphere.
— Can you tell us some ideas that you've had, for an album cover/ packaging, or for your own art, that didn't quite make it, and why.. ?
Oh god. I'd like to be able to say that I've never had a shit idea, but I'd be lying. Ok, hows this? I joined the National Trust so I go to see examples of topiary. I took hundreds of photographs. I also took lots of photos of various sorts of turf. I took a similar number of clouds and skies. My idea was to create huge chicken-wire and astroturf sculptures of erect cocks, alter the clouds to make them look like misty cunts, and use Photoshop to create a sort of English country garden pornography. I actually got quite a long way into this project, but it wasn't quite the thing for Hail to the Thief. I might still do it though. One day. Not for a Radiohead album.
— What little we've seen of the In Rainbows artwork thus far - and, indeed, the music itself - seems to shy away from the darker, more oppressive 'suburbia'-themed work we saw on Dead Air Space. Was it a conscious decision to go, at what seems to be quite a late point in the process, in a different direction thematically, or was it more of a natural evolution of the music and the art that accompanied it?
The figurative work was intertwined with the abstract, and slowly they separated, until there was only a trace of suburbia left. Suburbia is where I started, in September 2006 [or even earlier, I suppose...] and the abstract work followed fairly swiftly, in November, almost by accident. In fact, it was kick-started by an accident. I'm concerned that my work does tend towards the oppressive, and this wasn't looking like it was going to be an oppressive record. I find it difficult to work with colour; maybe this is because of the impoverished beginnings of my so-called career. But once this hurdle had been overcome it was plainly the case that I had two ideas; suburbia, which I called xurbia, and colourful abstract work. The suburban work was largely funnelled into a show I did in June at Lazarides, called If You Lived here You'd Be Home By Now, and the abstract became the artwork for In Rainbows.
— A lot of people wanted to know about Hodiau Direkton. Was it your idea to post work on an ongoing basis on the site? How, if at all, does the work on Hodiau relate to or inform the album art? Given that some of the pieces were animation/motion based, should we expect more Kid A/Amnesiac style blips?
Yep, that's it exactly. It was meant to be almost like a flick through a sketchbook. It wasn't sequential, it wasn't a tease, and it wasn't intended to 'mean anything'. We were interested in showing something of the process of making the record, so there were photos, sketches, abandoned artworks, all sorts. I don't know about blips or anything yet. We're still figuring out how to go about treating the moving image.
— And on a similar note, have you ever been interested in the possibility of directing a video for the band or designing visuals for their live performances? And everyone wanted to know if you’re also a musician or would like to make music.
No, no, absolutely not, and thus no.
— Do you find yourself ever feeling stifled by the Radiohead "brand"?
I can't think of anyone I'd rather work with. They're a brand?
— Of all the album art you’ve produced for Radiohead, which project are
you most satisfied with?Aw fuck. I don't know. At the moment, In Rainbows. It's always the most recent. Though I have a soft spot for Kid A.
<<< radiohead.presse <<< main