At home with Gilbert & George
Working at the Philharmonia, I’m lucky to get to hear an incredible range of concerts, from the traditional to the more unorthodox. When I heard that the Philharmonia would be joining forces with artists Gilbert & George, however, I knew that we were in for a concert unlike any I’d experienced before. I was also confused – in a recent interview, George stated that ‘Music is the enemy’, with Gilbert swiftly following up with ‘We never listen to music’. So why, then, would they team up with a symphony orchestra?
Well, it was just my luck that I was asked to go to Gilbert & George’s London home to assist with the filming of an interview that will form part of the concert. Of course, I enthusiastically agreed. This would be the perfect opportunity to learn from the duo themselves what their vision was for this collaboration, and how it complemented their exhibition, Gilbert & George: 21st Century Pictures at the Hayward Gallery.
It was an early start on a sunny July day, crossing London from west to east for a 9am start. My walk from the tube station took me through Spitalfields Market, with various street food vans firing up for the day and stalls displaying a vast array of odd bits and bobs, former possessions of colourful Spitalfields characters no doubt. Next the towering spire of Hawksmoor’s Christ Church burst into view, its English Baroque architecture reflecting one aspect of the area’s rich and varied religious history.
I continued down the next street, Georgian homes flanking me on either side, different shades of brick and colours of front door and shutters giving each one its own character. To my surprise, the conservation-area air was juxtaposed with an abundance of street art, and vibrant graffiti adorned some of the Georgian builds. This striking – maybe even shocking – mixture of history and modernity felt like a very fitting context for Gilbert & George’s work, an aesthetic link between the artists and the area they have called home for decades.
I met the film crew at Gilbert & George’s front door, and I could tell we all harboured the same sense of buzzing curiosity as to what the day would have in store. We were warmly greeted by the duo’s assistant, Yu Yigang, who invited us in. Immediately I was struck by the atmosphere – artistic creativity seemed constructed into the very framework of the house. My eyes darted impatiently from one piece of art to the next as I tried to get a sense of the visual cues that colour the everyday lives of Gilbert & George. Accompanying the rich sights were the sounds of creaking dark wood floorboards, and what I decided was the smell of history.
As we headed up the narrow staircase to a study room where the interview would take place, Yu Yigang confirmed my inkling of the house’s fascinating past. In another lifetime it had been a leather factory, on a street known for industrial innovation. In 1968/69, Gilbert & George purchased it and completely remodelled the interior to create their shared vision of a home. This confirmed my notion of the building’s structure as a symbiotic extension of the pair, and my anticipation to meet them only grew stronger.
After a rejig of the study we set up the lighting and checked camera angles, carefully working around pillars of thoroughly perused books and small, eclectic sculptures. At last I glimpsed Gilbert & George as they arrived at the top of the stairs, of course clad in trademark complementary tweed suits. They greeted us warmly, keen to get on with the interview.
The study was small so I had to leave the room to the film crew – and like you I’ll have to wait until I see the finished film to find out what they said [look out for extracts from the interview in our concert trailer, coming soon]. I had an hour to sit in the back yard and, between emails, ponder somewhat nervously what I might ask the pair. Over the course of post-interview photo ops throughout the tall, narrow house I finally had a brief chance to speak to them:
Will: So, as a member of staff at the Philharmonia and a music enthusiast I’m curious to ask, what do you really think about music?
George: Music is the enemy.
With this response, verbatim from a previous interview, I knew that a revelatory scoop was not on the cards today. But George’s frankness was disarming, and I felt a real conviction in his answer.
Will: If this is the case, why choose to collaborate with the Philharmonia? Is that not contradictory?
Gilbert: Well, what you should know is…
At this pivotal moment, we were separated in the narrow corridor by the transit of a large camera before Yu Yigang ushered the pair to the final photo op location down on the ground floor. Time was very limited, the schedule strict – I felt lucky to have even had the briefest of interactions. Alas, I didn’t receive the hoped-for magical answer that would make the whole project ‘make sense’. I suspect, however, that the end of Gilbert’s sentence may have left me with more questions than before.
The final footage the crew wanted to capture was of the pair standing together in their hallway. My job was to open the front door whilst staying out of view of the camera. Squished betwixt door and wall, holding my breath so as to not ruin the shot, a final interaction with George as he peered round the door:
George: And what kind of training do they give you to do that then?
At the call of ‘CUT’ I could let out my laugh. It was a spontaneous, warm note on which to say goodbye, as the artists got back to whatever the rest of the day held for them.
I may not have gained a definitive insight into Gilbert & George’s artistic vision, but the mystery is part of the fun of this project. In a way I’m glad not to be any the wiser about what exactly to expect from the concert. Instead, I will have to look, listen, and figure out for myself what they, their pictures, and their choice of music, are trying to say.
