When looking at the work of Radiohead more as an art project than simply a band—which may be the larger point—it becomes clear that “Radiohead” is not just Thom Yorke, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Phil Selway, and Ed O’Brien. Producer Nigel Godrich has been an inseparable part of the collective, shaping sounds and steering sonics in the studio since 1994. And it’s the art of Stanley Donwood (a.k.a. Dan Rickwood, who attended university with Yorke) that has accompanied the band’s innovative catalog with pieces of complementary, iconic imagery for the past two decades. From the corporate and political subversiveness of OK Computer and Hail to the Thief to the barren wastelands of Kid A to the colorful abstraction of In Rainbows, Donwood’s art is a constant and critical piece of the project.
Donwood’s latest exhibit is called The Panic Office and is currently installed and on display in Semi-Permanent in Sydney. In addition to his works with Radiohead, the exhibition includes other, unseen personal painting and drawings, and the whole thing is accompanied by a soundtrack by Yorke, titled Subterranea. Australian radio station Triple J notes that the audio design includes sounds that amplify from three levels—floors, walls, ceiling—and that “no minute is the same over the 18 days.”
See a video, originally made available by Donwood, with a preview of the exhibit and the soundtrack below.
The Panic Office is in installation at Semi-Permanent in Sydney, Australia, from May 24–June 6.
(via Pitchfork)
