dorling kindersley books

The team visit the shoot on the end of the first day and it's looking good. Gered's team and Richard E have assembled something, a pile of objects, on the floor of the studio, above which perches, precariously on the gantry, Gered and Something Else, which looks more like a Space Shuttle than a camera. Upon inspection, the Thing which the Space Shuttle is aimed at looks more like I imagine Patrick Moore's description of a White Dwarf than a book jacket. A lot of detritus being sucked into the vortex. The question is, is it the Real Thing?

Then it hits me. The Thing's an X-ray of the inside of Bill's head. They have taken the brief quite literally, and to its logical conclusion. There are over 400 objects - small to medium sized things - nevertheless assembled in such a way that the (big) Thing could only mean the Stones. Gered obviously has some very unsuccessful friends, as he has even managed to source some intact early '60s packets of condoms. Seen from the Space Shuttle's point of view the Thing is amazing. A marketing gift ("...it's beautiful, but what is it?"). It takes those of us who remember vinyl back to the days of poring over new album covers, looking for hidden meanings ("....why the golf clubs?"). It's a poster ("...look at that lighting, this Thing is something else..."). It's a competition ("....identify the tablets, bottom right"). Everybody pitches in with suggestions. The Thing evolves.