Research - Gilbert and George Postcards

Cult art duo Gilbert and George are helpful to look at from a presentation point of view. They've worked with postcards before, liking them a lot, their work with them dating as far back as 1972. They have a book which has their collection in before but they've recently done a new exhibition involving postcards.

For their new exhibition, the duo went out and looked for cards and postcards that sex workers left in phone booths or other popular drop points. They then used them to make this collection. The postcards are showing at the White Cube gallery in London and are interesting due to their use of repition and some of the material they found.

The critic Michael Bracewell writes in an introduction: "The artists reveal how that which appears tawdry, commercial, sentimental or base, no less than that which seems elevated, exquisite or enlightened, contributes to the pattern and voice of the modern world."

The reason I'm interested in looking at this is how they chose to present their postcards. This is more relevant for the previous postcard work rather than the newer one, but relevant nonetheless. They grouped them together by subject matter, often repeating them and then framing them. It put the postcards into relevant categories and I was wondering if this was something I could consider.

Something noticeable from the wishes that have been submitted to me is how many of them follow the same themes - personal wishes, monetary wishes, romance/love/relationship wishes and so on. If I were to categorise them and put them into their own collections I would if this would enhance the presentation of my installation.

It may also make it more interesting for the interactive part. Because I want the viewers at the installation to contribute by writing their own postcard and pinning it with the rest, it might be interesting to see if they pick up on the grouping and where they would pin their own wish based on this. Would it match my categorising or would some people be entirely oblivious to it being grouped at all and put them anywhere? It might aid the way people vary and identity and add that exploring element to the installation itself.