P-Funk Mothership

An integral part of the P-Funk mythology, the Mothership existed conceptually as a fictional vehicle of funk deliverance and as a physical prop central to Parliament-Funkadelic concerts during the 1970s and 1990s.

The Mothership was summoned down by the vocal tones of P Funk singer/guitarists Glenn Goins and later Garry Shider, and was represented in the form of a full-scale model complete with light and sound effects as well as pyrotechnics.

[3][1] At this point in the show George Clinton would emerge from the Mothership in the form of Dr. Funkenstein, the "cool ghoul with the bump transplant," in order to better "administer funk" to the audience.

The replica Mothership found a new home in 2011 when the Smithsonian Institution acquired it by moving it from Clinton's recording studio in Tallahassee, Florida, after the original could not be located.

[12] In its announcement of the exhibit, running from August 7, 2021 to February 27, 2022,[13] the museum said, "Experience a replica of the Mothership itself— musician George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic’s Afrofuturistic vessel—to relax in an otherworldly video installation, a curated playlist by DJ Spooky, and more.

P-Funk Mothership at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Funkenstein emerging from the Mothership – 1975 album art