Artist Gillian Wearing has said, “I’m always trying to find ways of discovering new things about people, and in the process discover more about myself.” In her film and photography work, the self-confessed reality TV-junkie has always probed the psychological secrets of her subjects.

On release from Friday, Wearing’s first full-length film is no less an exploration of the workings within. Self Made is the distillation of hundreds of individuals who responded to an advert she placed in newspapers and job centres saying, “Would you like to be in a film? You can play yourself or a fictional character. Call Gillian.”

A process of auditions resulted in five non-actors, each with their own fears and anxities, whom she set to work with a London method-acting teacher. At once documentary, artwork, social experiment and performance project, Self Made is cathartic and uncomfortable viewing.

The audience witnesses the film’s “actors” being pushed to the limits of self-exposure. Reality and acting finally blur to take the shape of portraits of people, lost in the search for their own identity. Wearing’s film is a work of art, with each character delivering the performance of their life. But it’s a journey for her audience too, who are unlikely to walk away unscathed.

Self Made, directed by Gillian Wearing is at selected cinemas from 2 September 2011.
selfmade.org.uk

Tags: Gillian Wearing, Method Acting, Self Made