Studies, Flag: Burning

Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK

“My first design for a concert was Flag: Burning with the British post-punk band Wire. I didn’t know much, but I was bored of seeing the typical silhouette of a band: three standing people with instruments and amps and one person sitting with drums on a raised platform. So I presented the group within four frames as a combined portrait or mask. I made illustrated cue sheets from which we ran the lights and video projections.”

—Es Devlin

Row of four red translucent cubes, each with a black silhouette of a band number inside
Production photograph, Flag: Burning
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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Row of four cubes, one glowing yellow to reveal the silhouette of a man with a microphone inside
Production photograph, Flag: Burning
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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Row of four cubes, the front face of each filled with cropped images of an eye, nose, mouth, and eye
Production photograph, Flag: Burning
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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Six black-and-white drawings and a clear cube arranged horizontally within a display case
Es Devlin, Studies, Flag: Burning, Mixed media on paper and acrylic.
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution
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Rows of squares filled with cartoonish illustrations and text noting track numbers and time cues
Es Devlin, Study, Flag: Burning, Pen and ink on paper.
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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Rows of squares filled with cartoonish illustrations and text noting track numbers and time cues
Es Devlin, Study, Flag: Burning, Pen and ink on paper.
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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Row of four white squares, each containing a sketchy silhouette of a man playing a musical instrument
Es Devlin, Study, Flag: Burning, Mixed media on paper.
Staged 2003, Wire Farewell Performance, Barbican Hall, London, UK
Courtesy of Es Devlin
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