Gilbert and George
Excess is an important theme in this iconic work in which a camera is trained on the artists as they become increasingly drunk. Sitting either side of a bay window in the front room of their house in London's Fournier Street, the artists pour glass after glass of Gordon's gin, sipping it in a slow and stately manner. A gramophone in the background pumps out music by Elgar and Grieg, while a voiceover intones the words 'Gordon's make us drunk'. As the performance progresses, and the artists imbibe even more alcohol, the voiceover changes to 'Gordon's makes us very drunk', and then to 'Gordon's makes us very, very drunk', and so on.
Simultaneously a spoof and a celebration of Britishness and high manners, 'Gordon's Makes Us Drunk' reveals the point at which habitual drinking becomes, as the artists put it, 'not a pleasure, but a duty to perform'.
Emma Mahony
Exhibition Organiser
Hayward Gallery
- Artwork Details: running time: 9 minutes
- Edition:
- Material description: video and certificate
- Credit line: © The Artists 2006, courtesy Jay Jopling/ White Cube London.
- Theme: Figurative
- Medium: Film and Audio Visual
- Accession number: AC 1280a