Pink Floyd exhibits in Montreal

Five years after its creation in London, Their Mortal Remains moved to Arsenal contemporary art

Jean-Christophe Laurence
The Press

“It’s good to enter the museum, but I still prefer to make music! »

Clear voice on the phone. Accent british. Friendly conversation. Reached by telephone on the West Coast in the United States, Nick Mason is nothing like the disillusioned rock star we expected to find. On the contrary. At 78, the Pink Floyd drummer seems quite happy to chat with the journalist and does not hesitate to talk about the cult group that made him known.

It must be said that the conversation revolves around a subject close to his heart, namely the exhibition Their Mortal Remainsdevoted to Pink Floyd, which arrives this Friday at Arsenal contemporary art in Montreal, five years after its official inauguration at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.

At heart, because Mason was very closely involved in the project, to the point of becoming its “special consultant”. He gave his opinion on a regular basis and provided many personal items, such as pages from a logbook and old frilled shirts from the era. Ummagumma, apparently found in the disguise boxes of her grandchildren! Logically, he also became its official spokesperson.

Does the drummer have the museum fiber? He defends himself. “I’m not like Bill Wyman [des Rolling Stones], who recorded everything meticulously. And I certainly wasn’t smart enough at the time to think in historical or archival terms. It’s just that I kept more boxes than David [Gilmour] and roger [Waters] ! »

A special bond with Montreal

Halfway between a classic exhibition and an immersive experience, Their Mortal Remains retraces the journey of the British band, from the psychedelic years with Syd Barrett to the trio albums of the 1990s, passing through the heyday of Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Walldominated by the neuroses of bassist Roger Waters.

You can see various objects that belonged to the members of the group, posters, David Gilmour’s guitars, Richard Wright’s keyboards, Syd Barrett’s bicycle. We recreated atmospheres, even stage sets. We even offer stations of a more technical nature, which give a total vision of the creative process of the training. The music, but also the sound, the lighting, the recording and the design of some famous album covers.

This aspect of the exhibition particularly appeals to Nick Mason, because it shows that “the group was not just about its musicians”. It also involved several collaborators (graphic designers Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, architect Mark Fisher, etc.) without whom the Floyd universe would not have been the same. The drummer even hopes that more interactive stations, like this simplified console that allows you to remix the song Money, will inspire certain vocations.

One detail, and not the least: the Montreal version of Their Mortal Remains also contains a station that was not in the original London version. This one is devoted to the singular link which unites Pink Floyd in Quebec and especially to the concert of July 6, 1977 at the Olympic Stadium, during which Roger Waters, more and more put off by the star system, had spat on spectators. The incident is notorious since it would have become the starting point of the album The Wall.

Nick Mason remembers it very well. But for him, there is no doubt that this slippage could have happened elsewhere. “I believe that the problem of disconnection between the public and the performing artists was not unique to Montreal,” he says. It’s a coincidence that this particular show was the catalyst. He could have happened in any city during this tour. »

No enthusiasm, no reunification

Their Mortal Remains went through London, Rome, Madrid, Dortmund, before ending up at Arsenal contemporary art. A nice catch for this artistic center in the Griffintown district. Especially since the exhibition is particularly complicated to move and it was not supposed to be itinerant at the start.

“It’s as heavy as a permanent exhibition. In fact, it’s like a permanent exhibition. There are a lot of costs related to the preparation,” summarizes Guy Laforce, director of Arsenal, referring to the ten trucks needed to transport the equipment and the army of carpenters responsible for its decor. Mr. Laforce points out that half a dozen people came expressly from the United Kingdom to supervise the assembly, in particular the graphic designer Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Hipgnosis, the agency behind the covers of the group.

We can obviously wonder about the “museumification” of Pink Floyd. Rock music is inherently alive and vibrant. And that’s also why Nick Mason decided not to stop at the expo. Six years ago he founded the group Saucerful of Secrets, which performs the more obscure Floydian repertoire of the years 1969 to 1972. The purpose of the operation was not so much to save the group’s music, he says, than the “selfish pleasure” of playing it on stage, and not behind a window.

Impossible, at this stage, not to ask him the million-pound question: will Pink Floyd reform one day, even without Rick Wright, who died in 2008? Short answer: “No, I don’t think so. It would only interest me if there was real enthusiasm, and I still don’t see any,” he says. Implicit reference to David Gilmour and Roger Waters, the two other surviving members of the formation, who no longer manage to get along.

There remains the work, monumental, which has lost none of its power and relevance. As we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moonreleased in March 1973, Pink Floyd remains one of the rare groups of its time to hold the road and retain a minimum of meaning, in this particularly anxiety-provoking time.

“I would like to be remembered as a band that did their job well and did a lot of people good,” concludes Nick Mason. I also think that in some cases we provided real support to people who were unhappy. »

“This is how I would like to pass on to posterity…”

At Arsenal contemporary art from November 4 to December 31