Storm Thorgerson comments

Dream Theater

This design emerged from eclectic sources susceptible on this occasion to identification. First there was the cobbled Eastern philosophy from hippy days, which recalls the watcher, or seer, who sees all things. There was the paranoia from 20th century urban living, and a fucked up childhood, wherein we think we are being continually watched. Then there was a television advert for four wheel drive macho vehicles, now used by upper middle class mums for the school run, which included 'watching towers', and finally there was a Gary Larson 'Far Side' cartoon of a huge bird eating a birdwatcher, seen through the binoculars of another birdwatcher, who may well be its next victim. Add to this brew the graphic attraction of the binocular semi-circles set snugly in a square through which the action is surveyed, plus the geometric nature of the constituents that make up the entire design, and you have a complete image. You have what you see opposite, close indeed to the original rough which first crept forth from the brain soup.

Dream Theater hail from New York and from an unashamedly bygone age of progressive rock which they purvey regularly on tour across the land with a vigour and a degree of support I would not have anticipated. In addition they were very charming, and great to work with, ie full of compliments and well organised. Graphic designers have frail egos too: it's not the private preserve of musicians, you know. We need compliments, we need love. I think they selected this design (out of several) because of the title, since there is potentially an infinity, albeit of regression, ie who is watching who is watching who etc. A regressive infinity is better than no infinity at all, is what I say. The same principle underlies a design I made for Pink Floyd back in 1969, called Ummagumma, although it was represented literally back then. The Dream Theater image is, however, more conceptual.

A purpose built computer, namely a Diacormid system (better than Paintbox or Mamba, more powerful than a Mac), was used to make this image. Not only for obvious details, like the black out of focus front binocular graphic, but also for other important items, like the tiny binoculars tilted at the right angle for the watchers (so as to look directly at each other), or moving one watcher more centrally on his little platform, plus cleaning the poles of the towers and brightening their reflections in the water. To show just how scandalous things can really get I'll own up to there being only one tower in reality, and only one person who was in fact photographed twice – he just sat the other way round and wore different clothes. He was positioned in the correct part of the lens over to one side, so that each tower, each exposure was the right perspective when recombined. Since the two pictures were taken from the same camera position they were very easy to join in the computer. Another image utilised in the package (for which this main image is the front), is an out of focus photograph of the watcher on his tower. One knows what it is yet somehow it looks different. In fact, it's a weeny bit suggestive, a little phallic even, which is to the taste of some like Dream Theater but not to others like Wishbone Ash. It's all in the eye of the beholder, or as in this instance, the eye of the watcher.