9. Gillian Wearing – Signs Series, I’m Desperate 1992-1993
Among the artist body of images is one of Wearing’s best-known works, which depicts a smartly dressed young man with a mild, even complacent expression, holding a sign saying simply, ‘I’m desperate’. In a 1996 interview, Wearing described how ‘People are still surprised that someone in a suit could actually admit to anything, especially in the early 1990s, just after the crash… I think he was actually shocked by what he had written, which suggests it must have been true. Then he got a bit angry, handed back the piece of paper, and stormed off. The series provides a fascinating social and historical document. It refers to the economic decline in Britain in the early 1990s, manifested by statements such as ‘Will Britain get through this recession?’. However, most of the signs express intimate thoughts or personal convictions.