Factory: An Experiment in Human Nature
Data Visualization
Data Visualization
This project maps the entire catalogue of Manchester's iconic music label Factory Records, spanning 1978 through 2007.
Factory's founder, Manchester television personality and post-punk impressario Anthony H Wilson, was heavily influenced by Situationism and the events of Paris 1968, and operated Factory more as a Situationist construction than as a viable business. (Neither Wilson nor anyone else at Factory ever seemed remotely interested in making a profit.) Wilson once stated, "we are not a record company...we are an experiment in human nature."
Factory gave a catalogue number to virtually everything it touched, including albums, singles, posters, stationery, events, and miscellaneous other items, many of a distinct Situationist flavour. Some of the more unusual items in the last category include FAC 8 (a menstrual egg timer, whatever that is), FAC 51 (the Haçienda nightclub), FAC 61 (former in-house producer Martin Hannett's lawsuit against Factory for unpaid royalties), FAC 99 (Joy Division/New Order manager Rob Gretton's dental reconstruction, after he had his front teeth punched out by members of A Certain Ratio, another of Factory's bands), and FAC 501 (Tony Wilson's coffin...the final Factory number).
Each mapping point includes release date, FAC number, artist, and title, and is colour-coded according to the type of object. The Factory catalogue extended up to FAC 511 (a celebration of the life of the recently-deceased Rob Gretton), but many of the later numbers were never allocated.
Factory's founder, Manchester television personality and post-punk impressario Anthony H Wilson, was heavily influenced by Situationism and the events of Paris 1968, and operated Factory more as a Situationist construction than as a viable business. (Neither Wilson nor anyone else at Factory ever seemed remotely interested in making a profit.) Wilson once stated, "we are not a record company...we are an experiment in human nature."
Factory gave a catalogue number to virtually everything it touched, including albums, singles, posters, stationery, events, and miscellaneous other items, many of a distinct Situationist flavour. Some of the more unusual items in the last category include FAC 8 (a menstrual egg timer, whatever that is), FAC 51 (the Haçienda nightclub), FAC 61 (former in-house producer Martin Hannett's lawsuit against Factory for unpaid royalties), FAC 99 (Joy Division/New Order manager Rob Gretton's dental reconstruction, after he had his front teeth punched out by members of A Certain Ratio, another of Factory's bands), and FAC 501 (Tony Wilson's coffin...the final Factory number).
Each mapping point includes release date, FAC number, artist, and title, and is colour-coded according to the type of object. The Factory catalogue extended up to FAC 511 (a celebration of the life of the recently-deceased Rob Gretton), but many of the later numbers were never allocated.