.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Gilbert: In the early 1970s we did the Living Sculpture pieces. We came into contact with people through the art.
George: And we were no longer totally alone, as we had been during the time of the Nature pieces. Alone in our work, but we saw people then. We drank. We were nearer to the violence of life than we are now or after we began to work on the house.
Gilbert: We had all the fighting pubs. Sometimes the police were called.
George: We always managed to get out of being arrested. Though we did get beaten up. And, in fact, we did end up in jail for the night.
Twice. People seemed to find our stance a bit aggressive.
Gilbert: Freedom. We were after that.
George: The violence shows in 'Cherry Blossom' and 'Bloody Life'. Then our work became more sterile.
Gilbert: It's what we wanted then.
George: There's still a little drinking. A glass in the hand or a bottle standing by on the floor. And different shots from angles, through the windows. A tree through a manmade window, for instance. Just a little 'Nature'. Combining those feelings about manmade things and natural things.
Gilbert: Just a little shift from one window view to the other. Very depressing and simplistic. When it goes from 'Bad Thoughts' to 'Dusty Corners', it gets worse in a way.
George: We were very desperate at this time. In 'Dusty Corners', there is only the fabric of the building and ourselves. No other elements at all.
Gilbert: And that is how we felt.
George: Yes, our works are always true, literally. Just lifted from where we were when we made them.
Gilbert: We never tried to invent anything.
(In: 'The Fabric of Their World: from Interviews with Carter Ratcliff 1986', in: 'The Words of Gilbert & George. With Portraits of the Artists from 1968 to 1997', London 1997, pp.156-157.)
George: And we were no longer totally alone, as we had been during the time of the Nature pieces. Alone in our work, but we saw people then. We drank. We were nearer to the violence of life than we are now or after we began to work on the house.
Gilbert: We had all the fighting pubs. Sometimes the police were called.
George: We always managed to get out of being arrested. Though we did get beaten up. And, in fact, we did end up in jail for the night.
Twice. People seemed to find our stance a bit aggressive.
Gilbert: Freedom. We were after that.
George: The violence shows in 'Cherry Blossom' and 'Bloody Life'. Then our work became more sterile.
Gilbert: It's what we wanted then.
George: There's still a little drinking. A glass in the hand or a bottle standing by on the floor. And different shots from angles, through the windows. A tree through a manmade window, for instance. Just a little 'Nature'. Combining those feelings about manmade things and natural things.
Gilbert: Just a little shift from one window view to the other. Very depressing and simplistic. When it goes from 'Bad Thoughts' to 'Dusty Corners', it gets worse in a way.
George: We were very desperate at this time. In 'Dusty Corners', there is only the fabric of the building and ourselves. No other elements at all.
Gilbert: And that is how we felt.
George: Yes, our works are always true, literally. Just lifted from where we were when we made them.
Gilbert: We never tried to invent anything.
(In: 'The Fabric of Their World: from Interviews with Carter Ratcliff 1986', in: 'The Words of Gilbert & George. With Portraits of the Artists from 1968 to 1997', London 1997, pp.156-157.)