The Grey Organisation (GO), a collective of like-minded individuals from London who formed from the settled dust of the Punk explosion. GO’s work centred around rebelling against the art establishment, its members dressing in a conservative ‘grey’ manner (hence the name) whilst producing juxtaposingly provocative art that elicited the exact opposite emotions to their attire.
Despite its anti-establishment notoriety, GO’s work was not just created to shock. It designed pieces for the Labour Party in the hope of attracting young voters, and following its move across the pond created album covers for De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.
The members of the group were Toby Mott, Daniel Saccoccio, Tim Burke and Paul Spencer. Years active - 1983 - 1991
Toby Mott describes the process of creating 3 Feet High and Rising in an essay written to accompany an exhibition of the work GO produced for Tommy Boy Records: "De La Soul visit our loft where we lay them down on the floor facing up, their heads making a triangle. We photograph them whilst hanging precariously off a step ladder, one idea being that the cover would not have a right way up. CD's have yet to be the dominant musical format so the vinyl album sleeve is our most effective way of making a statement [...] The intent of the design of De La Soul's, 3 Feet High and Rising LP cover is to be new and bright, with the overlaying of the fluorescent flowers and text reflecting a synthetic pop cartoon look [...] This is a move away from the prevailing macho hip hop visual codes which dominate to this day"
