Tony Wilson’s headstone
October 24, 2010 12:46 PM Subscribe
The late Tony Wilson’s headstone, as designed by Peter Saville. “Factory Records founder Anthony H. Wilson died in August 2007 [MeFi previously]. Just over three years later, a memorial headstone – designed collaboratively by Wilson’s long-term associates Peter Saville and Ben Kelly, with Paul Barnes and Matt Robertson – was unveiled in the Southern Cemetery in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, Manchester.” A 2001-like Modernist monolith for a scion of Manchester, the “Original Modern.”
unveiled in The Southern Cemetery in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy
*chortle*
posted by Sys Rq at 1:00 PM on October 24, 2010
*chortle*
posted by Sys Rq at 1:00 PM on October 24, 2010
From the comments there:
His casket has the FAC number 501 and if I remember his estate vowed that would be the last thing catalogued.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
His casket has the FAC number 501 and if I remember his estate vowed that would be the last thing catalogued.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 1:02 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Presumably included in FAC 501 or will it have a separate number?
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2010
Jinx
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2010
Every time you visit it Saville gets 5p.
posted by Webbster at 1:09 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Webbster at 1:09 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
That's funny, I just spent a good half-hour at a party last night raving about 24 Hour Party People to a friend.
Cultural Catalyst would make a good username.
posted by mannequito at 1:11 PM on October 24, 2010
Cultural Catalyst would make a good username.
posted by mannequito at 1:11 PM on October 24, 2010
A 2001-like Modernist monolith
Are the proportions 1:4:9?
posted by pjern at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2010
Are the proportions 1:4:9?
posted by pjern at 1:13 PM on October 24, 2010
Nice idea, shame about the choice of typeface. Rotis, in 2010, seriously?
posted by signal at 1:23 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by signal at 1:23 PM on October 24, 2010
To be more accurate, Saville should lose 5p every time you visit it.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:25 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:25 PM on October 24, 2010 [6 favorites]
signal: "Nice idea, shame about the choice of typeface. Rotis, in 2010, seriously"
It's a bit Nokia, isn't it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's a bit Nokia, isn't it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
For comparison purposes: Paul Rand’s headstone.
posted by joeclark at 1:46 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by joeclark at 1:46 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
In fifty years, no one will give a shit that Rotis was unfashionably 90s in 2010 signal.
Besides, shouldn't Tony Wilson's gravestone inscription use a font from his heyday?
posted by pharm at 1:50 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
Besides, shouldn't Tony Wilson's gravestone inscription use a font from his heyday?
posted by pharm at 1:50 PM on October 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
This is why I have already made my intentions regarding my death known. My ashes will be dumped in a campfire at a yearly folk music festival. The folks who need to know have the exact GPS, and know that buried about 3 feet down under said spot, is an ammo box with some pictures, a Freak Brothers comic book, a pint of cheap whiskey, a pack of cigs, and a quarter ounce of good weed that they need to dig up first. My last request is that they make sure to piss in the fire to put it out. Call me sentimental.
posted by timsteil at 2:28 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by timsteil at 2:28 PM on October 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
I think it's gorgeous. If I were the type of person to buy real estate and containers specifically to hold my rotting remains, I would probably just copy this for my own headstone. Only with my name, not Tony Wilson's.
posted by padraigin at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by padraigin at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was anticipating something naff or OTT, but as headstones go, that is just awesome. Beautiful.
posted by Flashman at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by Flashman at 2:31 PM on October 24, 2010
very slick, but wasn't he anyone's son or father or brother or mate? looks kind of lonely, or will do as soon as people have forgotten that it's clever.
posted by runincircles at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by runincircles at 3:04 PM on October 24, 2010
Call me sentimental, but I came across a photo of Andrew Wyeth's headstone and was attracted to its simplicity. By hand, in life and death.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:25 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:25 PM on October 24, 2010
It's perfect
posted by naplesyellow at 3:36 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by naplesyellow at 3:36 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's just a few hundred metres from my door. I should pop up there and liveblog it in this thread.
No wait. Wait. No. That would be an appaling idea.
posted by Jofus at 3:41 PM on October 24, 2010
No wait. Wait. No. That would be an appaling idea.
posted by Jofus at 3:41 PM on October 24, 2010
My first impression was business card. Then unfinished Joy Division album cover. The more I look at it, the more I like it as a simple memento mori: as you lean in to read the inscription, you are reflected perfectly in that endless black, empty space. I think it's stunning and a bit upsetting. It's perfect.
I'd like to teach this in juxtaposition with Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial.
posted by Heretic at 4:26 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'd like to teach this in juxtaposition with Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial.
posted by Heretic at 4:26 PM on October 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
Chorlton-Cum-Hardy
*chortle*
Hey, I grew up in Chorlton!
*bristles*
posted by Dreadnought at 6:25 PM on October 24, 2010
*chortle*
Hey, I grew up in Chorlton!
*bristles*
posted by Dreadnought at 6:25 PM on October 24, 2010
Presumably included in FAC 501 or will it have a separate number?
Yeah that was what I was wondering; If it would, indeed have a FAC number.
I think it's lovely, although I bet Saville probably had a lot of people joke about his future as a headstone designer during Factory's heyday.
Anyhow, it feels somehow incomplete to tell the truth. I wonder if it has a USB outlet or emits a wifi signal of some sort.
What would the USB, do you say? Why, it would let you download mp-3s of early factory singles, of course....
posted by Skygazer at 7:25 PM on October 24, 2010
Yeah that was what I was wondering; If it would, indeed have a FAC number.
I think it's lovely, although I bet Saville probably had a lot of people joke about his future as a headstone designer during Factory's heyday.
Anyhow, it feels somehow incomplete to tell the truth. I wonder if it has a USB outlet or emits a wifi signal of some sort.
What would the USB, do you say? Why, it would let you download mp-3s of early factory singles, of course....
posted by Skygazer at 7:25 PM on October 24, 2010
I want one of those Serenity-style headstones with perpetual videos playing...oh, wait, that was actually the tackiest idea I've ever seen.
I think this is kind of beautiful. I myself would like a simple black monolith on the moon.
posted by maxwelton at 9:24 PM on October 24, 2010
I think this is kind of beautiful. I myself would like a simple black monolith on the moon.
posted by maxwelton at 9:24 PM on October 24, 2010
That's funny, I just spent a good half-hour at a party last night raving about 24 Hour Party People to a friend....
posted by mannequito at 4:11 PM on October 24
I see what you did there.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 9:46 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by mannequito at 4:11 PM on October 24
I see what you did there.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 9:46 PM on October 24, 2010
I like the headstone. I have a hard time understanding why it has taken three years to put it up. I mean both of those sentences sincerely.
posted by bardophile at 9:59 PM on October 24, 2010
posted by bardophile at 9:59 PM on October 24, 2010
The fact that it showed up so late is so Saville, and in that so Factory, and in that so Wilson.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:51 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 10:51 PM on October 24, 2010 [4 favorites]
Not quite the same without Mike Garry reading it but this poem may provide some context for those unsure about how Anthony H Wilson affected Manchester.
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:51 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fallingbadgers at 10:51 PM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think it's great. Brilliant poem too. You can imagine Wilson reading it.
posted by DanCall at 12:43 AM on October 25, 2010
posted by DanCall at 12:43 AM on October 25, 2010
Meh. In a hundred years, it will be pocked, and therefore not shiny and not reflective. In a hundred years, it will be tilted askew, and therefore not dignified. In a hundred years, shmutz will make it difficult to read the quote. In a hundred years, no one will know who he was.
I spend a lot of time in cemeteries, you understand.
posted by RedEmma at 7:12 AM on October 25, 2010
I spend a lot of time in cemeteries, you understand.
posted by RedEmma at 7:12 AM on October 25, 2010
It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.
posted by juiceCake at 8:23 AM on October 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by juiceCake at 8:23 AM on October 25, 2010 [4 favorites]
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