Lot Essay
In their first photographic works in the early 1970's, Gilbert & George made ironic comments on the trend at the time to commercialize earthworks and performances with documentary, black and white photography. Human Bondage No. 4 from 1974, is part of a series of so-called Drinking pieces which "document" their long-term performance as Living Sculptures: "Details of pub furniture and fixtures, patterns of light and tiling, the sculptor's faces, rows of bottles, clocks, inscriptions - the fullness of "Nature" has turned into the clutter of intoxicated, metropolitan life. Tramps when they left the city, Gilbert and George returned as drunks." (In: Gilbert & George: The Complete Pictures 1971-1985, Carter Ratcliffe, Stuttgart 1986, pp. XII-XIII). These photographic documents are, however, bogus, since the artists were not really drunk. Gilbert & George conceived these works as staged photography, not as documentation.
In their manifesto "What our Art Means", Gilbert & George state: "We want Our Art to speak across the barriers of knowledge directly to People about their Life and not about their knowledge of art. The 20th century has been cursed with an art that cannot be understood. The decadent artists stand for themselves and their chosen few, laughing at and dismissing the normal outsider. We say that puzzling, obscure and form-obsessed art is decadent and a cruel denial of the Life of People." (ibid., p. VII)
Unlike their earlier Drinking pieces from 1973, in which the artists are depicted enjoying a friendly glass of wine in the sociable atmosphere of a local pub, the works from the Human Bondage series convey a feeling of violence and aggression. The pristine suits of the Living Sculptors are wrinkled as Gilbert & George lay sprawled out on the floor in their house on Fournier Street in a drunken stupor. Nevertheless, these works are not intended as moralistic lessons directed against alcohol and excess. On the contrary, Gilbert & George could see drunkenness as part of daily life: "We like the idea that one could deal with the destructive elements in one's life, in oneself, as human bondage, as something to be accepted. An aspect of life that you needn't avoid at all costs." (ibid., p. XXI).
In their manifesto "What our Art Means", Gilbert & George state: "We want Our Art to speak across the barriers of knowledge directly to People about their Life and not about their knowledge of art. The 20th century has been cursed with an art that cannot be understood. The decadent artists stand for themselves and their chosen few, laughing at and dismissing the normal outsider. We say that puzzling, obscure and form-obsessed art is decadent and a cruel denial of the Life of People." (ibid., p. VII)
Unlike their earlier Drinking pieces from 1973, in which the artists are depicted enjoying a friendly glass of wine in the sociable atmosphere of a local pub, the works from the Human Bondage series convey a feeling of violence and aggression. The pristine suits of the Living Sculptors are wrinkled as Gilbert & George lay sprawled out on the floor in their house on Fournier Street in a drunken stupor. Nevertheless, these works are not intended as moralistic lessons directed against alcohol and excess. On the contrary, Gilbert & George could see drunkenness as part of daily life: "We like the idea that one could deal with the destructive elements in one's life, in oneself, as human bondage, as something to be accepted. An aspect of life that you needn't avoid at all costs." (ibid., p. XXI).