Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson was a co-founder of Throbbing Gristle, partner of the amazing graphic design studio Hipgnosis, and a video director for artists as likely as Sepultura and Nine Inch Nails -- and as unlikely as Yes.
Here's a picture:
On Wednesday night, Sleazy died. Here's a nice balanced obit.
I'm not writing as a particular fan of his work. (He was most definitely a Dionysian but after a brief fling with industrial music in high school, I've mostly been on the side of Apollo.) I do offer much respect though, both for his body of work and as a lifer in pop (sub)cultures. (More on lifers from yesterday's blog.)
This champion of goth & industrial subculture also directed a video by Yes? Naw, you say. But no, totally, he made this video for YES:
UPDATED NOVEMBER 29, 2010: I'd be remiss in remembering Sleazy if I did not point you toward this collection of tributes collated by my friend Brandon over at Stereogum. Best of all, the piece included this quasi-Buddhist quote from the man himself (via The Quietus).
"We are all only temporary curators of our present bodies, which will all decay, sooner or later. In a hundred years or so ALL the humans currently alive will have died. I take great comfort in knowing, with certainty, that thing that makes us special, able to enrich our own lives and those of others, will not cease when our bodies do, but will be just starting and new (and hopefully even better) adventure… If we don’t get to meet in this Life, maybe in the next you can buy me a beer!"
Call me a hippie for taking great pleasure in that quote. Go ahead. Try it.