This is just an attempt to get the ideas across so you both understand that if we don’t manage to do a massive Radiohead show there are still achievable Plan Bs. I guess Plan C is when we just find a nice room to hang things and you make all the same money with none of the hassle. Plan D is when we all go back to our day jobs.
All these images are AI (obviously) which I feel bad about but it’s quite useful for quickly getting the point across, but don’t show Dan because it makes everything look way fancier than we can probably afford or achieve. Also the scales are all off.
The Listening Room
I think it’s possible to create a faux Kissa bar that has no bottleneck where people can (maybe) sit if there’s room, like an AV installation at a gallery. Get the big B&W speakers in there. You’d make the walls out of something industrial that packed down flat like unistruts (steel cable channels) with steel mesh in-between. And then have a second room with a letterpress or etching press to make little unique prints to give away. (mostly to increase the bodies that come through the door)
It won’t actually sound that good because it’s likely to be a concrete room with mesh walls but it’s just for the effect.
Printing in the Round
A cylindrical room made from similar mesh panels designed to represent Radiohead’s stage. Inside would be the printing area. Prints could either be inside or outside or both, and we could still utilise speakers throughout. Either like the stacks the band use on full display or more subtle, depending on where the money is coming from….
Holloways
In an attempt to keep it more SD than RH, this one is a wildcard but achievable. Loosely a wooden version of his holloway drawings made of flat panels that you can walk through, perhaps they get smaller as you go, in between each is a print suspended between the trees so it’s sort of a gallery corridor. Still flat-packable, lighter than steel. Would require a bigger room to make it work.
Potential issues
In the original brief we pitched two whole shows bunny hopping each other, which is best, and could still work here, but obviously doubles the cost. These structures are a lot cheaper so that is more feasible if we got some upfront money. The other option is you build one grand show in Mel or Syd, and do simplified versions in Perth and Tokyo. You could arguably do Mel & Syd because it’s only an 8 hour drive with all the steel. Perth is 5 days away because of the kangaroos, so very hard to make Melbourne in time.
I think shipping anything to Tokyo is probably a waste of time and money, unless we happen to get a lot. I think you could buy or hire a more modern etching press locally and maybe just find a more unique location which we could scout in Jan. You’re going to sell the prints whatever you do, and there’s 5 times as many people in Tokyo than any Aus city.