DOUGLAS GORDON
‘5
with this.
eliding both the distinct ideas of ‘superhuman' and ‘supernatural'. and also the opposites of ‘human' and ‘natural‘. He often works with ideas which encourage the swapping over of opposites. so that. for example. when he uses mirrors in his work. left becomes right and right becomes wrong.
Gordon took part in an exhibition in Munster
in 1997 (which contributed greatly to his international reputation) with a piece called ‘Between Darkness and Light‘. in which he projected 'I‘lu' Iixm'r‘ist on one side of a translucent screen and The Song (i/‘Iiwmulwtc on the other. Both movies essentially tell the same story. but in violently opposing ways. and seeing their stories unfold on the same screen gave both movies an added air of the sinister. as the viewers were forced to create some kind of narrative middle path: a story all their own. And then there’s the tattoo that Douglas had on his arm. It says. simply. ‘Trust me’. Why exactly would someone choose a tattoo saying that‘.’ Most of all. Gordon‘s fascination with
dualities seems to
hook into his interest in the fabled Scottish psyche. made famous by Jekyll and Hyde. and James Hogu’s (‘mifi'ssimzs nfu Justified Sinner. Just look at his self-portraits. such as ‘Monster'. in which he transforms his pretty young face using sellotape. or the recent gender-bending photographs. ‘Staying Home. (ioing ()ut' (see page 24).
DEATH
Two of my favourite works by Douglas (iordon are partly about death. ()nce. as a kid in Glasgow. his mother told him that police were contiscating certain metal handled combs. because their handles were three inches long. and sharp enough to be used as a weapon to pierce a victim‘s heart. (iot‘don tumed this memory into an art project by persuading a man to have his forefinger tattooed all over. as if he‘d dipped it in three inches of
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
Douglas Gordon in a nutshell
1986 Born in Glasgow
1984-88 Glasgow School of Art
1988-90 Slade School of Art, London
1 993 24 Hour Psycho, one of Gordon‘s best-known works, made for Tramway.
1 994 First solo show in London, at Lisson Gallery
1996 Wins Turner Prize at Tate, London
1 997 Awarded Premio 2000 at the Venice Biennale Work included in Munster Sculpture Projects, showing in an underpass which had famously been used once before for an art project by Joseph Beuys
1998 Wins Hugo Boss Prize at Guggenheim, New York
2000 Shows in a double-header alongside paintings by JMW Turner at Tate Liverpool Makes first major film, Feature Film, in which he films the hands of conductor James Conlon, conducting the soundtrack to Hitchcock’s Vertigo
2001 Major retrospective at Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles, which tours to Vancouver, Mexico City and Washington
2002 Major retrospective at Hayward Gallery, London
2006 Major retrospective at MoMA New York Major retrospective in Barcelona Feature film, Zidane: A 2fst Century Portrait shown to widespread acclaim in Cannes. The film is distributed widely in cinemas across Britain, by
Paramount .
Major retrospective in Edinburgh
black ink. It‘s just enough to show what it would take to touch someone‘s heart. Read that as literally or as metaphorically as you like. There‘s another piece which. I think. brings together all of Douglas‘ ideas. his skilful manipulation of the viewer. and his interest in the duality of life and death. It's a wall text called ‘30 Second Text‘ and it reports the true story of an experiment in which a doctor attempted to communicate with the decapitated head of a man immediately after his execution by guillotine. It is morbid. fascinating. and if you time it right. the simple denouement transports you all the way to the guillotine. To paraphrase the classic football chant. Douglas (iordon till I die.
RSA Buildings, Edinburgh, from Wed 1 Nov
19 Oct-2 Nov 2006 THE LIST 21