Through the Magpie Eye: Signs...

30.05.2018

Despite having one of the most convoluted and overlong titles in all of art history 'Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say' is a series of proper mint photographs taken by conceptual British artist Gillian Wearing.

If you couldn't deduce from the title, Wearing's idea behind this one was to get members of the public to honestly reveal their most intimate thoughts.

While some are certainly more 'open' than others, each photo is a surreal and often hilarious insight into the societal and personal anxieties folks faced back in the early 90s.

Gillian Wearing photograph of someone in a dark suit and tie on a street, holding a handwritten sign reading I'm desperate

Someone in a denim jacket and knee-high boots smiling on a busy street, holding a sign reading I hate this world Someone in a grey blazer smiling by a red double-decker bus, holding a sign reading Cut off the head and the body will die Someone in a striped shirt in a glass-roofed arcade, holding a sign asking Will Britain get through this recession Someone in a shaggy brown coat by black railings on a city street, holding a sign reading My grip on life is rather loose Two people with signs on a pavement, one reading I like to be in the country, the other about a holiday abroad Someone in tinted glasses, a yellow polo shirt and a beige jacket on a shopping street, holding a sign reading Me A police officer in a helmet, white shirt and black tie on a busy pavement, holding a handwritten sign reading Help

For more info on these by someone who actually knows what they're on about, have a ganders at what the Tate had to say about them here.

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