Reflections on the Peter Saville Show

I am still on two weeks paternity leave from work - so decided to pay a visit to the Design Museum today. I must say that overall I was very impressed with the Peter Saville exhibition. I was a little worried that the bulk of the show would be given over to his work in fashion design. However, there were no problems on that score as all the significant Joy Division/New Order sleeves were presented chronologically with notes and and interesting bits of work in progress that contributed to the finished designs. I hadn't noticed the spelling mistake Russel Club instead of Russell Club on the Fac 1 poster before. The funny thing was that Saville continued to spell it this way on subsequent posters. Maybe he thought he would get away with - and people would think that his spelling was correct afterall!

Visually the exhibition is stunning - a fitting tribute to a very talented guy. My only gripe was the acoustics in the hall - you could hardly hear "Ambient" or "Soundtrack" or whatever it is called. Whose idea was it to put a TV in Hall 1 playing recordings of Tony Wilson's TV programme "Something Else" ? It was a big mistake if you ask me - all the time your looking around Hall 1 - you get a mix of "Ambient", Iggy Pop, Tom Robinson etc and Tony Wilson's voice - all great on their own - but not at the same time!

There is an exhibition of chairs upstairs - dead boring if you ask me - however, the Saville Show is worth the price of admission alone. On my way out I purchased a copy of the "Ambient" CD and Peter Saville's book in the shop. It was a beautiful day so I stopped at one of the Thameside restaurants outside for a very agreeable lunch and a glass of cold beer. On ordering a second glass of beer I slipped "Ambient" onto my CD Walkman. I don't know whether it was the sunshine, the beer or the music but I do feel that this track is the best thing New Order have done for a long time.

Maybe New Order should do an album of 20 min+ long instrumentals. I know Barney finds lyric writing a chore - so this approach would be the ideal solution. I have always been into Ambient/Minimalist stuff eg. Brian Eno/Steve Reich etc. I also love the German School of instrumental electronica Neu, Harmonia, Cluster, La Dusseldorf etc. A New Order album of instrumentals would be great for chilling out on a hot summers day like today.

Wise words Adam.

I agree with what you say about the telly in the first gallery drowning out the sound of the "soundtrack".Surely "they" could have done something about that as it really ruins the atmosphere that could be created by the music.

Overall though I agree the exhibition is excellent and I was surprised at some of the ups and downs of Savilles professional career.

Although personally I dont think that New Order have reached the stage yet where the music has to be less accesible to the great mass of the record buying public than they are at the moment,I suppose though that depends on how the next album is recieved.

I guess I think that an album of instrumentals a la Philip Glass is something for the future years rather than the present.

Thats not to say that I wouldnt like it, because I love "Soundtrack" and find it soothing,addictive and very melodic. I just dont feel that New Order have reached the stage where they need to go for the niche market rather than the mass market.

I feel the ambient track is nice when I was reading the Peter Saville Book :D

Originally posted by Adam Tate I hadn't noticed the spelling mistake Russel Club instead of Russell Club on the Fac 1 poster before. The funny thing was that Saville continued to spell it this way on subsequent posters. Maybe he thought he would get away with - and people would think that his spelling was correct afterall!

Also, "The Durutti Column" is written twice on that poster, with two different spellings!

what can i say,you"ve summed it up exactly as it was,wilson talking boll**s in the back ground,soundtrack could have been a bit louder as well. but as for the content ,absolutely fantastic! for anyone who has the run 2 12 " who would have thought a humble washing powder box would have been the inspiration for this wonderful sleeve! and the true faith sleeve,the ACTUAL leaves what they used for the sleeve were there in a shoebox! fantastic! i went about 6 weeks ago,if i lived nearer london i would definately go again! yes the chairs were crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! steve smith . BEWARE,THERE IS A GUY ON EBAY SELLING THE SOUNDTRACK CD INCLUDING DESIGN MUSEUM BAG AND ADMISSION TICKLET FOR £30,IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!! the soundtrack cd"s ARE still available!!!!! for non uk members wanting to visit the design museum,the nearest tube/undergrond is tower hill,walk over tower bridge and take the steps to the left before the end of the bridge,the carry on for 300 metres and the design museum is directly left. i hope i helped steve

You mean directly right, otherwise you'd fall in the thames! :D

Went today with my wife and we had a great day out. Nicely organised, agree with Adam about the unnecessary TV at the start, the bust at the end of the hall is very apt. Hands up anyone who DIDN'T have a photo taken of themselves next to it, I bet there aren't many. Must post my picture sometime. Soundtrack is very mellow too.

Upstairs I enjoyed the Citroen exhibition especially the 1939 prototype 2CV, with the single headlight, an 8 hp engine, held together with 16 bolts and a steering column which would spear you in a crash. Finally played Pacman in the games section at the end, 5th form at school was all about that game and Space Invaders!

Tremendous fun

Originally posted by Chris Hand up. Didn't take any photos. Walked round, looked at loads of stuff, bought 10 copies of the Soundtrack, left, had couple of beers then f**ked off out on the piss.

Chris your in depth analysis of the Saville exhibition has really inspired me to............ piss off down the pub:D

My friend Rich took some pictures there.

If you feel interested in having them send me an e-mail

Clean forgot to add my thoughts - I went at the end of June whilst on a week off - and I thought they got the balance of the contemporary fashion stuff and the music art almost perfect. Not so keen on the Soundtrack, I have to say, but some of the technical graphic drawings that accompanied the artwork were very absorbing. Have to confess to spending more time upstairs playing the vintage games consoles, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Well written CHRIS...but pleae note just cos something is 25 years old it should STILL be in MINTY MINT...absolutely no yellowing or ageing state...if POSSIBLE.Here at PLANET ROCKET this is only a MOMENTARY LAPSE IN TIME.So careful with that ARTWORK please.Future generations need to see them AS IS!:D Now i wish i could fxxx off down to the pub instead of WORK.Another bloody contract so i can buy some NEW new order for XMAS.

Finally caught it this weekend: was very impressed, and the presence of the slab of inscribed metal used for the LWTUA cover was worth my admission fee alone.

The most infuriating thing was all those gorgeously designed posters on the wall (personal fave: Festival of the 10th '86) and you can't get replicas: surely there's a hefty profit to be made there. Did anyone buy one of those FAC1 posters, incidentally? I considered slapping it on my credit card but then, er, reconsidered: surely they could run them off a for a few quid a pop and still make a substantial profit???

There was also a mistake on the Design Museum's summer programme, claiming that Saville's first Factory job was in 1988 - can only assume this is in homage to the original spelling errors.........

I agree that the "So It Goes" exhibit clashed a bit with "Soundtrack" but I liked it (the Iggy's horse's arse edition). Despite it really having sod-all to do with Saville, I thought it was of the two most imaginative pieces there (the other being the large "Republic" mural).

The rest of the exhibition, although nicely set out and thorough, I thought to be a bit stale. I wanted more interaction maybe - something different. The monitors could be doing something more interesting than just flashing up images of the other exhibits. Maybe some interviews, maybe a "Can you spot Peter in 24HPP?" game. Images of Saville himself were pretty scarce and I still haven't seen the menstrual egg-timer. Don't tell me I missed it. The earnest design student types copying down quotes and doing little sketches in their notebooks were more amusing than the actual exhibition.

Although I still love the designs and rate Saville, seeing all the images that "inspired" him has sent him down somewhat in my estimation.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the exhibition, but not as much as I hoped. If you can't make it yourself, don't worry. Get the "Soundtrack" CD (good, but overpriced), get the book (for thorough detail), tastefully arrange your record collection, put up a few old posters, slap the CD on and read the book. Perhaps you could also try to imagine what a leaf might look like.

A leaf...? A LONELYtree. ;)

I've visited the Design museum for the Peter Saville Show too. The Design Museum is one of my fav's in London. The real reason was the Great British Beer Festival, but I think the Peter Saville Show is worth the trip from Holland alone. I find a lot of my own LP collection on this exhibition, but realize I miss a lot of New Order and Joy Division. I agree with Adam about the interfering music. But that's the only negative remark. Very nice to see how things starts. And the original picture where Peter design from is sometimes an eye-opener. When I see the whole collection, I realize that Peter follows the changing of the music of new order in his designs in a way I didn’t realize before.