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拍品专文
Mirroring their debauched lifestyle in the 1970s, Gilbert & George's Destructivism belongs to an early series of photographic works inspired by alcohol and intoxication as the central theme. A celebratory and experimental time for the artists, 1972 marks their first brushes with critical success and global recognition. Gilbert & George's photo-pieces from this period utilise the distortive qualities available in the photographic medium to suggest the effects of drinking and intoxication experienced by the artists in their everyday life. In Destructivism, Gilbert & George have taken ten uniquely cropped and processed photographs and put through a host of experimental techniques, from double exposure to negative overlays. In their intentional distortion of the image, use of odd perspectives and fragmentation, Gilbert & George not only refer to a world blurred by drink but also make a direct assault on Minimalist sculptures.
As 'Living-Sculptures' Gilbert & George were well placed to provide a commentary on the Minimalist sculptural aesthetic that was dominating the art scene. Part of the Drinking Pieces series which was exhibited at Galerie Sonnabend's show Any Port in a Storm in 1973. Galerie Sonnabend was instrumental in bringing Minimalism and Conceptual art to Europe. Operating in the same circles as Conceptual artists in Europe at the time, Gilbert & George remained separate from these movements, the distance affording them opportunities to comment on and subvert their modes of representation. Exploding upward or cascading down and appearing to collect in a heap, Gilbert & George's ten almost precariously positioned images speak to the inherent dangers of drinking and drunkenness. In Destructivism, Gilbert & George have made their own anti-Minimalist work; they have created scatter-sculpture piece depicting their own debaucherous lifestyle. Indeed the title of the present work is a play on Constructivism, a Russian art movement which was finding resonance in the Minimal aesthetic at the time.
An important precursor to Gilbert & George's celebrated Dead Boards series, Destructivism makes playful use of photographic techniques and styles. While the original negatives were in focus and had no optical illusions, the artists printed the photographs themselves, deliberately introducing strange effects and distortions during the darkroom process that allowed the photo-documentary aspects of the image to give way to a sense of the uncanny. Indeed this was a very experimental period for Gilbert & George, who were keen to move beyond the limitations they were encountering in public performance. By utilising the photographic medium's ability to erase the artist's hand, a quality which they felt their audience had become preoccupied with in the past, Gilbert & George were able to acutely embody their 'art-life' and create a sort of pseudo-document of their experience as 'living sculptures'.
As 'Living-Sculptures' Gilbert & George were well placed to provide a commentary on the Minimalist sculptural aesthetic that was dominating the art scene. Part of the Drinking Pieces series which was exhibited at Galerie Sonnabend's show Any Port in a Storm in 1973. Galerie Sonnabend was instrumental in bringing Minimalism and Conceptual art to Europe. Operating in the same circles as Conceptual artists in Europe at the time, Gilbert & George remained separate from these movements, the distance affording them opportunities to comment on and subvert their modes of representation. Exploding upward or cascading down and appearing to collect in a heap, Gilbert & George's ten almost precariously positioned images speak to the inherent dangers of drinking and drunkenness. In Destructivism, Gilbert & George have made their own anti-Minimalist work; they have created scatter-sculpture piece depicting their own debaucherous lifestyle. Indeed the title of the present work is a play on Constructivism, a Russian art movement which was finding resonance in the Minimal aesthetic at the time.
An important precursor to Gilbert & George's celebrated Dead Boards series, Destructivism makes playful use of photographic techniques and styles. While the original negatives were in focus and had no optical illusions, the artists printed the photographs themselves, deliberately introducing strange effects and distortions during the darkroom process that allowed the photo-documentary aspects of the image to give way to a sense of the uncanny. Indeed this was a very experimental period for Gilbert & George, who were keen to move beyond the limitations they were encountering in public performance. By utilising the photographic medium's ability to erase the artist's hand, a quality which they felt their audience had become preoccupied with in the past, Gilbert & George were able to acutely embody their 'art-life' and create a sort of pseudo-document of their experience as 'living sculptures'.