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No idea was ever too much, or inconvenient, for the graphic artists Hipgnosis, whose iconic album artwork designs serve as the centerpiece for Anton Corbijn‘s documentary Squaring the Circle: (The Story of Hipgnosis). In the latest trailer for the film, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, musicians Paul McCartney, Nick Mason, Jimmy Page, and more reflect on Aubrey “Po” Powell and Storm Thorgerson’s reign and willingness to go the distance.
“Paul McCartney called me up and he said, ‘I want to put it on Everest,’” Thorgerson said in the trailer, recalling the cover for the singer’s 1978 compilation album Wings Greatest. The album artwork features an ancient statuette in gilded gold perched on a red podium, which McCartney’s wife Linda had purchased earlier that year, only stationed on top of the mountain.
“They represent the golden age of the music business,” Noel Gallagher explained in the clip. At one point, Hipgnosis were so in demand that whatever artwork Pink Floyd passed over wouldn’t have too long of a shelf-life before it ended up on the cover of someone else’s record. And when Powell and Thorgerson wanted a shot, they got it. During one instance in the trailer, the artists recall capturing Pink Floyd’s famous Wish You Were Here cover, saying: “The only way to make it look for real was to set him on fire.”
“What I love about vinyl is the artwork is the poor man’s art collection,” Gallagher stated at the start of the trailer. With some of Hypnosis’ work heralded as being some of “the most important artwork in the world,” he added: “All that work has stood the test of time.”
“I do think the importance of an album cover being looked at like a piece of artwork is gone. It’s funny, no one cares for CDs anymore. Music is all streaming now or it’s vinyl. But the notion of album covers being a thing…,” Corbjin told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “I mean, it’s one of the reasons I wanted [Factory Records co-founder and art director] Peter Saville to be in the documentary. I wanted to compare, say, what he did with those Joy Division albums, especially something like Unknown Pleasures, with what Hipgnosis did with Dark Side of the Moon. I think they’re very similar, in a way — although Peter despised Hipgnosis. Not the artwork, mind you. Just the bands they worked with.”
Squaring the Circle: (The Story of Hipgnosis) also features appearances from Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman, and more.
