Gillian Wearing

We were given the task to go around Croydon, and ask people what they were thinking at that exact time, inspired by Gillian Wearing’s work. It was important to ask people that didn’t look that busy, so we were most likely to have a positive response. My group asked people of all different ages, both male and female, to get a varied response. Most of the people were happy to write down what they were thinking at that time; however one person was not happy with us taking a picture of them holding their response next to their chest.

Most of the people wrote quite obvious answers to begin with- that they were feeling cold, couldn’t wait to get home etc. So we decided to change the question slightly and ask them what was on their mind/ personal thoughts. This gave us more information as to who they were and what they were doing with their lives. One man wrote that he hated his job, another that he could wait to go and see his grandson.

I enjoyed this exercise because it gave me to opportunity to talk to people I wouldn’t normally, and find out what their thoughts were.

Tosin Year 13 BTEC National Art and Design

Gillian Wearing inspired.

We were set out to ask people we had never met, to write down an expression or a quote of some sort inspired by there initial thoughts or inspirations of the day, then take a picture of the person holding up their message. I found approaching people was hard at the beginning, as I was stuck on what to say, however it became easier towards the end. I felt the experience was successful we achieved a better knowledge and experience of live art and also interacted the live art experience to the public we met in Selhurst.
Our approach was friendly, firstly we asked if they would be interested in interacting in a live art project, adding that it wouldn’t take long if they decided to. If they were interested we encouraged them to write down a quote, a thought etc. We had a mix of reactions some people were interested in participating and others didn’t want to be bothered by us.
It was an interesting perspective of art. If I was to repeated this live art experience I would perhaps do it in an area that was more busy and had a larger range of people which I could ask.

after gillian wearing

Our task was to go to a public place and ask people what they were thinking and ask them to write it on a piece of paper so that we could take a picture of them with their thoughts. We also asked them for email addresses.We decided to go to Tescos in Selhurst as we assumed it would be a busy public piece. We started to ask random people making sure that we gave them the purpose of this exercise and also assured them it was strictly for educational purposes. We found that people were very anxious to participate and as soon as we mentioned taking a picture we found they were less inclined to do so. We tried different tactics of approaching people and found that if we mentioned the BRIT School earlier on in the conversation then we got a positive result.I found this research interesting as people seemed to use the excuse they were too busy. The task would have taken them three minutes and I could not believe that people couldn’t even give up that amount of time in their day. However 13 people did participate making it a very worthwhile task. by Luke Jonas Yr13 BTEC National art and design

After Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing is a mixture between live art and photography. One of her most well known pieces of work is Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say. This consists of a series of photographs, each showing a member of the public who Wearing had stopped on the street and got to spontaneously write something down on a piece of paper. Wearing then photographed the people holding the paper. Some of the results are a little surprising: a smart young man dressed in a business suit holds a sign which reads "I'm desperate", while a police officer has written the single word "Help!". In Wearing's words, "A great deal of my work is about questioning handed-down truths".
Wearing uses techniques of documentary and photography, film and television to frame the concerns, words and actions of ordinary people. As well as these pieces which concentrate on individuals, Wearing has made pieces that concentrate on groups of people. One, Sixty Minute Silence (1996) is a video of people dressed in police uniforms sitting as if for a group photograph for an hour. Their initial stillness eventually gives way to fidgeting. Her film Drunk (2000) is of four drunk men staggering around a studio.
In response to her work we went out in groups into Selhurst and spontaneously asked people to write down anything they felt like writing down. A lot of people we asked did not want to participate in the art experiment however those who did provided interesting responses. Some wrote what they were doing, others wrote how they were feeling, some political statements, while others wrote random words.

I found the responses interesting and amusing and were I to do this again in a different area I feel the responses would be different. I really enjoyed this piece of live art and enjoyed the play between live and actual art.

After Gilian wearing

It’s Thursday 27th November and we as a class have left the comfort of our school grounds and are on a pursuit to Whitehorse. This is in aid of what can only be described as a cross between performance art and a social experiment. "What are you thinking?" A question that echoed throughout every group to the public. Stationed along Whitehorse, my group including Tosin and Eloise, we were directed to ask individuals surrounding the petrol station what they were thinking.
In order to document the people and their responses, we asked them if they could write their thoughts down and hold it up as we photographed them. This is an experiment also conducted by the artist Gillian Wearing, who we were working in the style of.
I really enjoyed this experiment and had no queries with going up to people. I found it worked best to ask individuals if they had time to spare, why I was doing it and to blurt out the question, giving them no time to come up with a though-out response.
People were keen to interact and although we got less exciting answers like "I'm tired" or "I'm cold." We got equally interesting and random thoughts like "I like running for buses" and "Why are you so beautiful?" Proving when you address people politely and with respectfully they can always spare a minute

Biannca Nugent- Visual Arts and Design BTEC student

Inspired by Gillian Wearing

On a thursday afternoon we decided to conduct an artistic experiment. The artist Gillian Wearing was the inspiration for the project after she did the same piece. We copied her art on the streets and in the shops of Selhurst. We went out and asked people to write down what they were thinking before we approached them or a statement. It was a broad question which left some of the people wondering what they should write down. Then if they were willing we took a photo of them holding up what they had written. Most people who agreed to helping us out were willing to have their photo taken. It was only really the young girls that didn't want their face in the photo.
We found that men were the easiest to approach and most women didn't really want to participate. Middle-aged women were the least likely to say yes.
As time went on it seemed the question became more narrowed down. When we asked what people were thinking before we started talking to them people found it easier to answer as it was more specific. We even asked what people thought of before they went to bed. This seemed a bit too personal, and many could not recollect. It was easier to shake people's short-term memory. Generally people were very positive and interested by the idea.

Sophie McKay yr13 BTEC National Diploma

Year 13 BTEC National Diploma Art and Design: afternoon lesson re-enacting Gillian Wearing's work, Thursday 27th November 2008

As part of Unit 59, Multi-Disciplinary work in Fine Art, students are developing approaches to Live Art exploring different methods of engaging with their audience, both on and off site. In Year 12 for Open evening November 2007, students undertook this work with the prospective students but we were keen to consider with them how the work would change out in the public domain in the schools locality at a junction including areas around shops such as Halfords, Staples, a barbers, bus stops, Tescos.

Posts which follow this entitled 'After Gillian Wearing' are the students recording of the experience.

Some background information:


Wearing’s work demonstrates a complex understanding of the alternately comic and tragic experiences of everyday life. She uses the techniques of documentary photography, film and television to frame the concerns, words and actions of ordinary people, often in everyday situations slightly and often subtly displaced in context. This repositioning creates an uneasy sense in the viewer - it forces us to question our preconceptions in face of the image Wearing presents to us. [Taken from British Council website ]


Thoughts we discussed prior to the re-enactments:

• Evaluating examples of Gillian Wearing's work
• Where? Who to ask, what to ask, how to frame the experience? Ask for email addresses?
• Watching the use of the site first, considering where to ask eg going into and/or out of the station? How does change of site affect responses?
• Short term public engagement, community, social, what are we learning?
• Spontaneous approach
• Strangers more honest than people you know?
• Passers by- transient community?
• Highlighting the human connection between us?