Anyone visited
usehearingprotection.com recently? Scroll down to the bottom and click
exhibition. Voila: FAC 1 to 50 as covered by the Exhibition: each has its own picture and blurb underneath. So it’s a sort of virtual exhibition for those unable to attend in person.
I actually did attend on Friday afternoon, shortly before closing time, so I had to be quick. Fortunately the place was completely empty bar the staff, so no one slowed me down. I didn’t have time to watch the video stuff though.
The exhibition is primarily in one room. You effectively enter through the gift shop, walk up a long ramp with some exhibit-related posters on it, and then into the room. JD and Durutti Column were playing on the speakers (maybe it was the box set?). Ironically I didn't pay much attention to the music!
I took some pics but I won’t bother with too many of the Fac 1 to 50 pics as you can see better ones on the above website link. Some posters/adverts/books/notebooks made up the additional material at the exbibition that aren't covered above, so I’ll focus on those.
Having said that, contradiction time: Here’s FAC1:
This was at the top of the walking-ramp just as you turn into the main room. The other posters in the ramp area that I kinda ignored were:
1) Poster for the Sex Pistols at Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall 20/07/1978
2) Poster: Shimmy...Joy Division July, 1979. Designed by Jon Savage
3) Poster: with detail from Le Retour de la colonne Durutti. Produced by Tony Wilson
4) Poster: the Factory Fridays at the Russell Club, 1979
5) Poster: A Certain Ratio/Durutti Column/Blurt, 1980. Designed by Jon Savage
And here's contradiction number two of my "no Facs" plan: FAC2:
And here's... FAC26 which doesn't have a picture on the website for some reason, so you may as well have a look here.
On the bottom left you can see the "(No) City Fun" video screen reflecting off the glass frame. The window and the overhead lights made it quite tricky to take pictures of framed stuff, or stuff under glass without getting reflections.
Some of this stuff from here on, I'll let you figure out yourselves.
Final Solution present... (Bernard: "We're not Nazis!")
FACT37
FAC8 The Factory "egg timer" appeared to be written/drawn directly on the wall
Use your wits or use the bus. Admission £2.
The gift shop (aka The Reading Room) was the exit as well as the entrance.
Lots of merch for sale. The only things I could clearly see a price on were the pencils and keyrings. With each of those selling at £5 a pop, I didn't bother enquiring about the other stuff.
Should I recognise the red Factory keyring logo?
I think I see some JD UP vinyl down the bottom right here, stacked flat. Which is how you get warped vinyl. Tut tut.
The lower right of this pic has Factory packing/duct tape! Just what you always wanted.
Makes me wonder if there's a NO/JD fan out there who has everything from a FAC1 poster, the JD/NO records, through to pencils and Factory branded tape.
There were a couple of other display bits in the gift shop area which I didn't snap. Such as a letter from Tony Wilson to Rob Gretton, 9th May,1978, and Rob Gretton's copy of Internationale Sittuationniste 11.
Oh now a couple of "bonus tracks":
These two posters weren't at Chelsea Space (which is confusingly, in Pimlico), these were in actual Chelsea at a Rave Exhibition in Saatchi Galleries during the summer. Not sure why they were there (along with Visage and Test Dept). Surely a Hacienda poster, or something Technique related would have been more appropriate. Overall it was a fun Rave exhibition though!
