Their Mortal Remains - Rome

Although I've always wanted to visit Italy, it was the Pink Floyd exhibition that actually nudged me into booking a trip sooner rather than later. I saw Their Mortal Remains numerous times in London and it meant a lot to me; it’s difficult to get across just how immense and utterly immersive it was, and obviously Pink Floyd mean so much to me anyway. I'd spend a minimum of four hours there each and every visit and it was so immersive it felt like being transported to another world. It had closed in October of last year and I was eager to visit it in it's new location, partly to get my fix of it, and also to see how it compared. I expected it to be almost the same, but with additions specific to Italy.



The exhibition opened in Rome in January and was due to end on 20th May which is the day I went. I really loved seeing it again, but to be completely honest it was a let down. There were lots of things missing to the point entire displays had gone, and they’d reconfigured the layout because of that which stopped it flowing as well as it had at the V&A. Which I understand from the point that people had lent their stuff to the exhibition and wanted it back instead of having it go on a world tour, but it’s still disappointing. It took me an hour and a half to get around it, where as it took me over 4 hours each time I saw it in London because there was so much to take in.






Things that were missing included the model of the Bedford van, Gerald Scarfe's large painting of the hammer march, Syd's bike, Rick's instruments, both The Division Bell and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason rooms had been more than halved, the Point Me At The Sky section was gone, the circular screen projection showing the animation for One Of These Days was gone, there were none of the telephone boxes filled with social history for each time point, and I'm sure there were other smaller things I might have missed. There were also lots of decorative items missing, such as the centre labels for each album display and lots of projections such as the Wish You Were Here logo on the floor and several other elements.









There weren't many additions, but the main and most noticeable were the inflatables from the Animals 'In The Flesh' tour. They had part of the Nuclear Family, and best of all and the highlight of the exhibition for me: Algie the pig. The inflatable pig is so iconic for Pink Floyd imagery, and it’s difficult to appreciate the scale of it when it’s usually floating so high above so it was great to get that perspective. Animals is one of my favourite albums too, and I’ve always loved the imagery as I’m such a fan of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. In London they had a small model of Algie floating above Battersea Power Station which served as the 'walls' for the display of the Animals section of the exhibition. Aubrey Powell (of Hipgnosis) stated that they didn't have the ceiling space at the V&A for the inflatables, which I can understand.











The biggest disappointment was the final room. In London it was incredible - there were screens on all four walls with lights coming from the ceiling and it really gave the impression of almost being in a live event. It played the music videos for High Hopes, Arnold Layne, and the Live 8 performance of Comfortably Numb which was their last before Rick passed. It was emotional and an incredible sight, you can watch a video I filmed of it here. The Rome version of this room was utter crap, as you can see. It's so bad I don't even want the photo in anything other than a link! There was no immersion to it, it was just one screen on one wall looping the Comfortably Numb footage over and over. It was also so loud that you could clearly hear it from the very first room, whereas the V&A had obviously soundproofed which may sound like a nit picky thing, but it's that word again: immersion. Rome had absolutely none, whereas London had it in spades.

Seeing Their Mortal Remains in Rome has made me grateful I saw it as many times as I did in London, and removed any desire to see it again in any other country. It does make me sad though that the people who were waiting for the tour won't be getting the full experience.



I'd already bought most of the gift shop when it was in London, but I did manage to find a couple of things that I hadn't seen before. I knew I wanted the tote before going as it was the one thing specific to Rome, and I also really love the artwork of Algie floating above the Colosseum. I thought the Dark Side of the Moon etched prism was something really unique, and as I collect crystals I like how it blends in with them on my shelf until you take a closer look.





I've wanted one of these Bedford van models for a while and they sell for an absolute fortune on eBay as they're quite difficult to get hold of, so I felt right jammy seeing a whole stack of them in the gift shop and honestly expected them to cost a lot more than they did. These models were originally supposed to come as part of the Early Years box set, which as you can see in the background it's designed after (and if you scroll back to the top of this post, you'll see Nick loading his drums into the real version). There was some kind of manufacturing issue that stopped them coming as part of the box set, which in turn has made them highly collectible. I'm not quite sure why to be honest, but I'm very pleased to have it in my collection none the less as the van is such an important part of Floyd history.

Gerald Scarfe

Last month I took a little trip to London to visit the House of Illustration as they’re holding an exhibition of Gerald Scarfe’s work. I’m currently writing my dissertation on Gerald Scarfe, as I’m very interested in how illustration and music are used together and obviously never have the two mediums come together so seamlessly as with Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Scarfe’s style has become synonymous with the band despite only being used for just one album out of fifteen, and I find it so interesting how his artwork has given such a concrete visual narrative to the very non-visual medium of music. He’s illustrated Roger Waters’ ideas and autobiography to an extent, and yet added his own narrative and perspective into the mix. I could geek out about it for hours! So you can see why the exhibition was a must for me.



I hadn’t been to the House of Illustration before, and photos aren’t allowed so unfortunately I have nothing to show you, but it’s well worth a visit. It’s very small, and the Scarfe exhibition filled most of the gallery. It covered a fairly wide selection of his art, with sections on The Magic Flute, his costumes and design for The Nutcracker, The Wall, his short animation The Long Drawn-Out Trip, and his concept work for Disney’s Hercules which I found the most interesting. Being a huge fan of Disney, I loved seeing the notes back and forth between Scarfe and the animators of how the characters should be designed and move without losing Scarfe’s distinctive style, and how the animators translated that style to be Disney appropriate. I’m currently trying to change my own art style up from a less Disney inspired style as it’s what I grew up trying to draw like, so I made sure to take some of their notes to heart and took joy in seeing how they had to unlearn some of the same habits I’ve gotten myself into. I also loved seeing so many of Scarfe’s original artworks, nothing can compare to seeing an artists work you admire in the flesh. To see that things aren’t as perfectly cropped and bordered like they appear in a book or a screen, to see the lines he rubbed out and how his designs changed. I’m sure all of this sounds terribly geeky, but for an illustrator like me I was in my element!




These photos of his works are from Their Mortal Remains, but you can see some those details here too. Not many of his pieces from The Wall were featured in this exhibition, but they were different from the ones I’d already seen which I appreciated. I know Scarfe had a lot of his original artworks stolen by Floyd fans in the ‘80s, so I believe what’s left is quite limited.

Remember A Day

On Thursday I traveled to London to see Their Mortal Remains, the V&A's Pink Floyd exhibition, for one final time before it closes on the 15th. I'm lucky to have been a total of 3 times so far (you can read about my other visits here and here), and I'm going to miss this exhibition SO much. I can't even begin to put into words just how much I love Pink Floyd and what they mean to me, and so what this exhibition means to me. It just gives me the biggest buzz and makes me so happy to escape and just be completely and utterly immersed in my favourite band for a few hours. It renews my love and wonder for them all over again and makes me feel like I did when I first discovered them, and I'm going to miss that feeling so much. I have no idea how I'll recapture that without the exhibition. The closest thing I can describe it as is it's like Disneyland, but for Floyd fans. It's that same kind of magical escapism. I managed to spend 5 hours in there this visit and I have no idea where that time even went, I was in such a happy bubble making sure I took in absolutely every little thing before it's gone forever. I just love Pink Floyd so much, and this entire exhibition just highlights that so much and overwhelms me with adoration. I could never see it enough times.

I'll put most of these images under a cut as there's going to be A LOT, but I just want to remember this always. You'll have to excuse the red and green dots, it's the reflection of the audio guide around my neck!



As you begin the exhibition you enter through a model of their Bedford van which was the bands earliest mode of transport for all of their equipment. There's a photo of Nick loading his drumkit into it (which you can see clearer here - notice the band through the window in the background!) and a letter Syd Barrett wrote to his girlfriend of the time that mentions the van.








A zine Syd made for a school friend


Really my only complaint about the entire exhibition, and has been since day 1, is that there isn't enough emphasis placed on Syd. Roger Waters himself has stated "We wouldn't of existed if it weren't for him", and as I know from first hand experience how few people are even aware of Syd's existence (the amount of times I've been condescendingly told by 'fans' that there's no member of Pink Floyd called Syd!) that I really feel his influence wasn't emphasized enough. After the first few rooms he's just never mentioned again, despite the fact that he inspired so much of the bands later content such as Wish You Were Here and a lot of The Wall and his shadow forever haunted them. At the very end of the exhibition there's a little tribute to Rick to mark his passing, and yet there's nothing like that for Syd which I thought was sad.



One of Nick Mason's technical drawings from his architecture studies, and an abstract painting by Syd.

"After two years at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, Syd Barrett came to London in 1964 to study at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. He was a prolific painter, and many people saw him as an artist first and a musician second. Although Pink Floyd's increasing success meant Syd left Camberwell early, he continued to paint for the rest of his life"

I've got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains

When I popped down to London for my birthday I couldn't resist making the most of it by revisiting the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V&A (you can read about my first visit here). It was a fairly last minute decision as I'd only decided the week before and bought a ticket as soon as the idea entered my head. I was primarily going to London to see The Killers at Hyde Park, but as that wasn't until the evening and I wasn't eager to get to the venue too early it felt an obvious choice, especially as I was really hoping to go back and see the exhibition again anyway.



I can't really explain the feeling this exhibition gives me other than sheer euphoria; to be so completely immersed in a band that means so much to me. I love the headphone aspect as it makes the experience so completely immersive and so personal, you almost forget everyone else is even there. I really feel like that's part of the magic of the exhibition; that everyone is wandering around in their own little Pink Floyd filled world.

As I entered and saw the giant replica Bedford van I did suddenly feel slightly worried that it wouldn't be as good as last time as I'd already seen everything and they'd be no surprises. But I actually enjoyed the experience more this second time around which I didn't think was possible as I loved it so much already!

When I booked my ticket they were nearly all sold out, and being a Saturday I expected it to be packed. Whilst it was definitely busy, it was much less busy than before when I attended a few days after opening. I didn't feel like I was playing sardines at any point, and it was much easier to frame my photographs without getting any of the other visitors in shot. Because I'd already seen everything and knew what was there I was able to actually focus on the items and areas that interested me instead of trying to take absolutely everything in at once like last time. Because of this, I came away really feeling like I'd learnt little tidbits I'd picked up instead of just having it all wash over me.

I also noticed a few little changes had been made which definitely helped the exhibition flow more smoothly. Just little things, like the Syd Barrett display at the beginning had been rejigged so it no longer blocked the entrance, and the headphone sets connected much more seamlessly without having to stand in a specific spot to hear.


Replicas of Syd Barrett's guitars (unfortunately no one knows what happened to his actual ones which is so sad, musical history has been lost there) and a 1960s zippo lighter like he used to play his guitar.

"One has to recognise that Syd, apart from looking good and playing guitar and so on, wrote songs and that was the unique and very special thing" - Nick Mason

A street map of Cambridge with historical Pink Floyd related locations pin pointed. I found this really interesting as it puts their early life into perspective as I'm not familiar with Cambridge. I left this photo in it's original size if you'd like to click through and read it.



Nick Mason's shirts and hat, sadly the only clothing on display which is a shame as they wore some really fab stuff throughout the years! I noticed almost all of Nick's things were credited to his first wife Lindy.


Nick's drumsticks engraved with his name, and one of David Gilmour's guitars and several of his pedals. All from 1969-1970.



Part of a string of coins made by Nick used to create the intro to Money on Dark Side of the Moon.


David's actual black strat with a film of him discussing it in the background, and one of Nick's drum kits.

"A lot of experimentation that was going on musically ... could have, if they weren't careful, moved Pink Floyd away from rock altogether ... One of the reasons it never does that is because there's a kind of steel in there at all times. What roots Pink Floyd in rock music is Nick Mason's drumming. However complex the ideas, he gives these often superb repeated loop grooves which really make it feel like it's a rock exploration ... it's the rhythm that does that." - Howard Goodall, musicologist and composer

Roger Waters' handwritten lyrics to Have a Cigar, and a polaroid photo taken by Nick of Syd Barrett's surprise visit to the studio when they were recording Wish You Were Here; "David asked me if I knew who he was...even then I couldn't place him, and had to be told. It was Syd."




Roger Waters' hand written lyrics and sketches for The Wall



Rick Wright with his 'surrogate' for The Wall stage show, with the mask of his face the surrogate wore.





One of the sheep parachutes used for their Animals/In The Flesh tour. Fireworks would be shot into the air, and these paper sheep with weighted feet would float down into the audience.


Nick would often write gig notes on his drum heads and use gaffer tape to dampen the sound. This is one of his snare drum heads which was broken by Nick at the at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in 1977. The writing is mostly the location codes that had been previously agreed by the band to call out during the show so illegal bootlegs could be traced.

Also David's guitar, Electric Mistress pedal and Big Muff pedal, and one of Rick's keyboards.





Roger's outfit he wore on stage during his solo tour of The Wall from 2010 - 2013.

"When I was working with Syd, Nick, Rick and David I'd been very lucky. It was a great platform. The name of that band is sort of irrelevant. It's being there and having the opportunity to do the work that's priceless." - Roger Waters

I sat in the end cinema room showing the Live 8/Arnold Layne/High Hopes videos for far too long just enjoying the atmosphere (as let's face it, it's the closest experience I'll ever get to seeing Pink Floyd live!). I was in the exhibition for 2 and a half hours, which I felt was pretty good considering it took over 4 last time!

I still don't feel done with this exhibition. I wish I still lived in London as traveling is my biggest prohibiter, but as it is I'm hoping to get down there at the end of September to see it one last time before it closes.



I hadn't planned to spend much in the gift shop, telling myself I only wanted the Saucerful of Secrets tshirt and a few duplicates of the pins I bought last time. But I'm weak, and as it was my birthday it was far too easy to justify! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the duplicate pin I wanted of Algie, but I got plenty more to make up for it. I couldn't resist buying the Record Store Day release of Interstellar Overdrive as I don't like RSD nor the jacked up prices on eBay. I also got an Animals top which I picked out on a whim yet have already won plenty, a few postcards, an Algie keyring, and a David Bowie tote from their small display from the Bowie exhibition a few years ago as I really wanted a tote and wasn't feeling the Pink Floyd designs.