Hardcore

A lush visual celebration of Pulp’s sixth album, This Is Hardcore, featuring unseen photography, behind-the-scenes interviews and revealing visuals

  • $50.00

In production now after being successfully funded on Volume. Estimated shipping date Autumn 2023.

Hardcore $50.00

Overview

From the mid- to late 1990s, Paul Burgess was invited by Jarvis Cocker to document the British band Pulp, taking photographs during video shoots, live gigs and other events for what has become one of the landmark albums of the period, This Is Hardcore. Written and designed by Burgess and Louise Colbourne, Hardcore contains a candid selection of previously unseen images of the band, behind the scenes and on set, of the four main video shoots made to promote the album. Twenty-five years have passed since Pulp released this extraordinary album, and this book holds up a mirror to the ingenious creative processes and characters behind the seminal record.

With carefully curated images from Burgess’s archive, Hardcore also includes quotations and interviews from then and now by the video directors, band members and other artists involved with the album. The book contains contributions from Doug Nichol, John Currin, Stephen Mallinder, Sergei Sviatchenko, John Stezaker and Florian Habicht, all of whom have a connection to the album, the band or the era. There are also visual responses from a selection of younger artists and designers, such as Alexa Vieira, who have been inspired by Burgess’s photographs and the band’s legacy.

Authors

Paul Burgess
Louise Colbourne

Designers

Louise Colbourne
Paul Burgess

Genre

Music

Specification

270 × 220 mm
256 pages
Hardcover

Pulp was the perfect name for the band because this was an attempt to find meaning in the mass-produced and throwaway world that was, after all, what we were surrounded by on a daily basis. To sift through and find some beauty in it all. Take a look – it is there.

Jarvis Cocker for the Guardian

Pulp are one of the true art-school bands, so the intention of the book is not to exist just as a document of the band, but to act as a creative catalyst and shine a new light on the album This Is Hardcore and the era that was the late 1990’s.

Paul Burgess and Louise Colbourne

Meet the authors

Paul Burgess is a freelance designer, photographer and author. He was course leader for the Illustration programme at the University of Brighton from 2010 to 2015 and studied at Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Burgess is also a collage artist and his work has been featured in many UK and international publications and exhibitions.

Louise Colbourne is course leader for MA Graphic Design at the University of Brighton. She also works as an independent creative director, working on collaborative ventures which often re-present archival material in new art forms. These projects culminate as programmed events, curated exhibitions and publications, and include a wide selection of international artists, musicians, and designers.