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on Christopher Hobbs The Devils “A few special pieces, amongst them the life-size crucifix for the nun’s chapel, are being sculpted by Christopher Hobbs … Christopher is making a half-burnt Oliver Reed out of latex.” Savage Messiah “Christopher Hobbs and I are chipping away at the marble torso in relays to get it finished for tomorrow. … Christopher help!! We have one block of marble left, with the texture of bullet-proof glass. Our wrists are swollen and our eyes are smarting from the lethal flying splinters.” In the Shadow of the Sun “Andrew Logan is to play the silver masked god. Christopher Hobbs has constructed the mask of genius. …We’ve no props except for a hundred silver paper boats that Christopher has designed to float in the rock pools at Dancing Ledge.” “Masks, models, puppets, paintings, sculpture, costumes, watercolours, make-up – Christopher Hobbs’ work is scattered through every film I’ve made. He can paint a Rembrandt, fake up rococo plasterwork, sculpt you a Gaudier. “For the Super 8 films, Christopher made masks and suits of armour out of silver card, models of castles, pyramids, and clothes out of yards of cheap calico. When he wasn’t working on the films he was building a palace for a supermarket magnate on the top of a mountain in Spain or restoring houses for the National Trust. All this work was made in a small muddled studio off Tottenham Court Road. He lived in one room of tromp l’oeil grandeur in a decayed terraced house in Islington, where the water splashed through the rafters and the garden was overgrown by an enormous sleeping princess rose bush. We filmed Christopher as the magician for In the Shadow of the Sun in this room, looking like an extra from Ivan the Terrible in purple velvet with gold embroidery and a bulky fur collar among his crystal cabinets and seventeenth-century hangings. Later, he put on a top hat and tails and seduced Gerald on the riverbank, while bouquets of flowers burned in slow motion.” The Greatest Rock and Roll Swindle “Did you know that the black and white footage of Paul picking his nose in the Swindle is mine, I said. I filmed it … During the filming Christopher came over and yelled, ‘My God they’re certainly going nowhere.’” Akhenaten “A third script, for an epic on Akhenaten, the heretic Pharaoh, remained as a gilded book with beautiful watercolours which Christopher Hobbs painted from small thumb-nail sketches.” Caravaggio “True scarlet is a problem even in costuming films and was the subject of many a conversation with Christopher Hobbs, designer on Caravaggio. ‘I cannot find a true scarlet’ he lamented, holding up a small square of antique silk. ‘Where can you find that colour today?’” The Last of England “At lunch Christopher arrived unexpectedly and … I broke the news to him [Jarman’s HIV+ diagnosis]. At first he expressed sympathy which I told him I didn’t really need as I could see many advantages; one had perhaps avoided a gruelling old age, cheated the bomb. Chris said … I might live so long that I would regret these words.” The Garden “Christopher Hobbs rang. The Madonna’s crown (modelled on Van Eyck) is now completed; and he is off to Oman to paint a mural for the Sultan.” “Meeting at Christopher Hobbs’ to tie up the art direction – the room full of curios: incunabula, mirrored cabinets, Roman lamps, and old carpet – its colours washed away with age.” “Christopher Hobbs is in his element, swathing large lengths of silk round columns, others blowing up pink balloons.” “Christopher laughed on the phone and said, Well you made your HIV status public! People are continually asking after you sotto voce.” “Christopher shot the deposition with HB [Keith Collins, Jarman’s last lover] and Johnny on the coldest day of the year. They were very good about it – he covered them up whenever he could. He had made a storyboard, which he stuck to. Everything was shot on a tripod. … He was very excited as this was the first time he had been behind a camera. He said he was longing to see the results.” - Derek Jarman “The plain oak coffin was open. Jarman was dressed in a robe of glittering gold. The cap on his head proclaimed him a ‘controversialist’. People came and stood in silence over the coffin. They hugged and spoke quietly … “Earlier that day, Collins had placed a number of carefully chosen effects in the coffin. The designer Christopher Hobbs, one of Jarman’s oldest friends, now added a small brass wreath similar to the one he had last fashioned as a prop for Caravaggio.” - Tony Peake |