The Turner Prize is crap...

[furtherfield.org]

    The Turner Prize is crap...

The Turner Prize at Tate Britain is widely recognised as one of the most 
important and prestigious awards for the visual arts in Europe. An 
exhibition of a selection of works by all 4 short-listed artists is on 
view at Tate Britain from 7 November 2001 - 20 January 2002 and the 
winner of the £20,000 prize will be announced at Tate Britain on 9 
December 2001 during a live broadcast by Channel 4.

The prize is awarded to a British artist under 50 for an outstanding 
exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months 
preceding 24 May 2001. It was established in 1984 by Tate's Patrons of 
New Art and is intended to promote public discussion of new developments 
in contemporary British art.


Madonna graced the Turner prize with her presence, she dared to tell 
everyone that the prize is useless in her own special way. She said 
"that you could not judge the value of Art by money and that often the 
best Art is made without any money, and that the best Art is made for 
Love", something like that anyway. She also said a few other things like 
"M******F*****R".  Another year of 4 artists being shoved in the 
limelight by the Art establishment, another year of many artists viewing 
4 individuals being promoted and not themselves. Another year of 
witnessing the Turner Prize on television and watching media types talk 
nonsense about the work to an isolated public. Another year of other 
art's orgasnisations not challenging the prize. Another year of 4 
Artists in the UK being promoted above many contemporary artists, 
pushing them down the Art arena's already shakey ladder.
KLF quite rightly highlighted the shameful Atrocity exhibition as a 
farce by offering Rachel Whiteread £40,000, twice the amount for the 
worst prize, an unprecedented double which provoked hilarity and scorn 
in equal measure in contrats to the Turner Prize award of £20,000. KLF 
said that the press mostly ignored the conceptual "art" side and 
concentrated on the "spoof" award as a reaction to the Turner Prize, and 
that the winner of both, Rachel Whiteread (famed for her concrete house) 
only accepted the K Foundation money because it would have been burnt 
otherwise. Foundation prize

THIS YEARS WINNER OF THE PRIZE -
For overated Artists caught in the maelstrom of hype & pomp (& 
circumstance) was Martin Creed.
The installation, 'The Lights Going On and Off'. Wether one views the 
work as good as bad & getting caught up in the traditional decoy of 
speculation. One could ask the question 'WHY?' Why is the prize there? 
Money & control  is the answer. It was Channel 4 that brought the the 
Turner Prize back to life after it had a year out. Ever since then it 
has been literally a media circus that has had a dramatic influence on 
the media, the art establishment and of course Artist themselves. A lot 
of artists feel depressed when the
Turner prize appears once again each year, knowing that it represents 
the mainstream and ignores the vast talent already struggling in the 
divide and rule art world in the UK. There is a type of irony at play 
that turns the winners of the prize into losers. None of the artists in 
the selection seem to respect the prize knowing that they have been sold 
into a market that has no interest in them, more of a rabid interest in the
spectacle of the event. These artists are nothing more than trophies, 
items of disposability declaring to the world that they might as well be 
contenders to 'CRUFTS', a yearly show in the UK for the best dog (pet). 
The whole occasion has modernist overtones, celebrating the promoters of 
the artists, all 4 of them & does not conceptually or in a postmodern 
way move into the contemporary. The UK drastically needs a new way in 
promoting the arts - no more lampooning a mere 4 artists in one building 
once a year - what about a show that is not a competition, showing 
hundreds of up & coming artists. Artists who have been independent & 
have not been promoted rigorously via gallery stables and their own 
circle jerk gangs. Of course this will topple the thrones of the 
galleries like The Lisson, Saatchi etc who this event is really for.



marc garrett - http://www.furtherfield.org







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