Pauline Forster (born 1949, Carlisle) is an English artist, performer, musician, designer and landlady of The George Tavern in the East End of London.[1] She was previously known under the name Wilson-Copp. She is best known for her Dog On[2] performance, a mirrored Ford Capri outside the Tate Modern on its opening day, 8 May 2000.
Pauline Forster was born in Carlisle, Cumbria in 1949, daughter of Jack Forster and Meg Arbury, the fourth of six siblings. They lived a feral, poverty stricken life until Pauline was 9 when they moved to Gloucestershire. Enterprising from an early age Pauline had her first market stall at 6.
Leaving home at 16 Pauline went to Gloucester College of Art and was initially given a place at Falmouth College of Arts. However, her declared dyslexia prevented her from gaining the necessary grade in English and the place was subsequently refused.
Pauline settled in Stroud and went on to marry and have five sons. After her divorce, she started an Access programme in Art in 1998 and went on to study Fine Art at Cheltenham College of Art in 2000. In 2003, she bought The George Tavern. Pauline was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She currently lives and works at The George Tavern, Stepney.
After the disappointment of not being allowed to carry on her art education Pauline was penniless and had to turn to her enterprising abilities. She collected old scraps of leather and created Handmade by Pauline Forster in 1969, a clothing and accessory label. She took her hippy-style products from Kings Road to the Isle of Wight Festival and always sold out. The business grew over time and her products were stocked by Harrods and were included in the Queen's Christmas crackers as prizes for many years. Pauline sold Handmade by Pauline Forster in 1994.
While at Cheltenham College Forster created the first of her notorious performance art pieces. Dog On was a clamped, mirrored Capri which Forster slept in for three nights outside the Tate Modern starting on the day of its grand opening. The work courted much media attention with features in most of the daily newspapers. The work was to challenge the YBA/Brit Art scene that was dogged by elitism. On the night before the Queen was visiting the Tate Modern Pauline was woken up by MI5, who threw her onto the streets with no shoes or money and impounded the car as the piece was considered a "security risk". Branded as an "art terrorist" Pauline was adamant; "I am not an anarchist, I'm an artist", she told one paper.
Forster has gone on to create an untitled performance where she walked through the streets of Cheltenham dusting the trail and herself in flour; the film was shown in Leicester Square as part of an Arts Festival. In 2002 Pauline squatted a Balti house in Brick Lane and opened an exhibition entitled London's Burning where she laid out hundreds of carbonised bagels and loaves. In 2003 Forster took her Capri onto the streets of London on the day the congestion charge was brought into effect. She had the car pulled by six women from east London to Trafalgar Square while rose petals and the dawn chorus came from the interior.
| Date | Name | Type | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Dog On | Site specific performance | The Tate Modern | |
| 2000 | One Woman Show. | Performance | Cheltenham Art Centre | |
| 2000 | Mummy has to go to bed – she needs to sometimes. | Performance | Cheltenham College of Art | |
| 2000 | Untitled (flour performance) | Performance | 291 Gallery | |
| 2001 | The Boat Performance | Sonic performance | Trinity buoy Wharf | |
| 2001 | Photographic Exhibition | Photography | Sweden | |
| 2002 | London's Burning | Installation | Brick Lane | |
| 2002 | Last Performance. | Multi-media | Stroud Slad Farm. | |
| 2003 | Escamping | Performance | Red Gate Gallery | |
| 2006 | The Recovery Room with Toby Penrose | Drawings | The George Tavern | |
| 2006 | Bar Orchestra | Sonic performance | The George Tavern | |
| 2006 | Golden Organic Fucking Rocks | Sonic performance with Toby Penrose and Selfish Cunt | 100 Club | |
| 2007 | Dragging The Plank | Performance | City of London | |
| 2011 | Dog On | Joe Rush's Mutoid Waste Company Group show The Unfair ground | Glastonbury 2011 |
Pauline purchased The George Tavern in 2003. The Georgian public house (formerly The Halfway House) is situated in the East End of London in Stepney and is a Grade II listed building. Pauline has built up The Georges reputation as a top music, performance and art venue, and a location for film and advertising.
Acts that have played at The George include John Cooper Clarke, Evan Dando, Pete Doherty, Snow Patrol, Duran Duran and Nick Cave.
The George Tavern launched a campaign in 2008 to stop a development attached to the historic building. The campaign was supported by several national celebrities.[3]
A play produced by Forster, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, was due to launch at The George Tavern in December 2006, when lead actor Mark Blanco died in suspicious circumstances. The case was covered in the news, with Forster commenting that the police weren't doing anything to investigate the death.[4]
Forster opened The Mark Blanco Theatre at The George Tavern in March 2007.
Since February 2008 Pauline Forster has written a fortnightly column for Newspaper of The Year East London Advertiser. Entitled "In My Words" Pauline's column is about topical local issues ranging from health care to financial crisis. Her opinionated position often causes debate.