Synopses & Reviews
Gilbert and George are perhaps the worldand#8217;s most enduring and controversial artist duo, and the first to transform themselves into a permanent, living work of art. Incorporating their lives, fears, desires, and beliefs into their oeuvre, Gilbert and Georgeand#151;with their almost alarming formality and raucous use of colorand#151;have been alternately celebrated as frank observers of the human condition and accused of reactionary posturing, obscenity, and profanity. But while much has been written on their photo-pieces and their renowned performance
The Singing Sculpture, scholars have long neglected the vital importance of video and film to the artistsand#8217; work. Until now.
In Genteel Perversion, Chris Horrocks traces Gilbert and Georgeand#8217;s trajectory from eccentric London art students to major international artists through the lens of their relationship with the moving image. By analyzing how their unique deployment of film and video has evolved over the past forty years, Horrocks shows that as Gilbert and George have embraced new technologies and networks to increase exposure, they have come to occupy a precarious position between using film and being filmedand#151;that is, being used by film. Genteel Perversion reveals how their signature piecesand#151;such as their notorious Bend It dance, melancholic Red Sculpture, and seminal early short film Gordonand#8217;s Makes Us Drunkand#151;allowed them to reinvent and reinforce their identity on camera. From their gallery-based video art to their film The World of Gilbert and George, and from the many documentaries in which they perform as themselves to their recent emergence into the world of social media and other alternative spaces of display, Genteel Perversion exposes the volatile collision of living art and moving image that were, are, and will be Gilbert and George.
Synopsis
Genteel Perversion: The Films of Gilbert and George is the first book devoted exclusively to a critical analysis of Gilbert and Georgeand#8217;s relationship to the moving image. Tracing their trajectory from eccentric London art students to major international artists, Chris Horrocks shows how over forty years their unique deployment of film and video adopted a precarious position between using film and being filmed, and embraced new technologies and networks to ensure their increasing exposure to an international audience. It reveals how their signature pieces, such as their notorious Bend It dance, melancholic Red Sculpture and seminal early short film Gordonand#8217;s Makes Us Drunk, reinvented and reinforced their identity on camera. From Gilbert and Georgeand#8217;s gallery-based video art, their major film The World of Gilbert and George, and the many documentaries in which they perform as themselves for mass audiences, to their recent emergence and reception in the world of social network media and alternative spaces of display, Genteel Perversion exposes a volatile collision of living art and moving image.
About the Author
Chris Horrocks is a cultural historian and filmmaker based at Kingston University in London. His previous books include Baudrillard: A Graphic Guide, Cultures of Colour, Tokyo Glam Rock, and Marshall McLuhan and Virtuality.
Table of Contents
Introduction
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Early Encounters
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Part 1: The Birth of the Singing Sculpture
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Part 2: The Singing Sculpture from Body to Technology
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The European Context
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Technology as Content
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Film History
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Pastoral Longing: The Nature of Our Looking (1970)
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In the Bush (1970)
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Portrait of the Artists as Young Men (1972)
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Drunk on Film: The Alcohol Years
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12 Fournier Street: In Camera
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Sex and the City
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A Bloody Reprise: The Red Sculpture
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The World of Gilbert and George (1981)
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Ten Commandments for Gilbert and George (1995)
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Films about Gilbert and George: Documenting Celebrity
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Celebrity Mantelpiece (1993)
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Gerald Fox: The Fundamental Gilbert and George (1997)
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Filming the Archive: The Secret Files of Gilbert and George (2000)
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Gilbert and George Day Tripping (2000): Gilbert and George-on-Sea
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Through the Keyhole (2002)
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Tim Marlow withand#133;Gilbert and George (2007)
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With Gilbert and George (2007)
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Retrospection and Video
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The Artists Remediated: The Social Network
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Conclusion
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Notes
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Images