10-16 1997

Adult actors lip-synching to recorded interviews with children aged 10 to 16.

Directed by Gillian Wearing

Consists of seven short films back projected onto a screen 18 feet wide. The films show adult actors lip-synching to a soundtrack taken from interviews that Wearing recorded with children between the age of 10 and 16. The disjuncture between the impact of an adult speaking with the cadence, words and even the bearing of a child is the initial focus of the work. The films’ simple locations, such as a bus stop and a bathroom, provide a foil to the narratives, which are complex, compelling and, at some points, surreal. The films are moving, and yet the emotional punch they pack are subtle and finely judged. The awkwardness and incredible insight of early adolescence is evident and challenges the viewer’s assumptions and nostalgia.