Turner Prize

[Bryn]

Excellent intro from Jude Law. I was rooting for Luke Fowler, but congratulations to Elizabeth Price.

[Simon]

For information, this is what the Telegraph review says about the winner:

"... Her 20-minute film The Woolworths Choir of 1979 starts out as a kind of sophisticated PowerPoint presentation on medieval church architecture, syncopated to a clapping beat. It develops the idea of the choir into a kind of blurry girl group video, before incorporating footage of a fire in a Woolworths store in 1979, in which ten people died.

To say that these three sections don’t connect would be an understatement: the idea that “choir” rhymes with “fire” seems to have been thrown in largely to infuriate the viewer. Yet the way these elements are forced together, against just about any logic, is challenging and intriguing. The use of rhythm and texture to create a haunting sense of disquiet is brilliantly done.

As with other films I’ve seen by Price, there is the sense of something slightly arid, academic and a little too clever for its own sake about the work. Yet it is the work of a genuinely interesting talent, who finally was the only realistic winner for this year’s Turner Prize."

[Thropplenoggin]

Yes, but is it Art?

[Bryn]

Yes, but is it Art?

It is indeed art.

[Lateralthinking1]

Largely indifference from me. 4 out of 10 to the Laing thing. 3 out of 10 to the others. Dark arts are the easiest to accomplish. Goths and punks went out with the Mission. Alfred Hitchcock, Face to Face, The Situationists, The Wicker Man. Jamie Reid, The Dead Kennedys, Chris Ofili, Negativland. There's nothing new here. Turner judges seem reluctant to promote the joyously difficult.

So less "is it art?" than "was it hard?" Nah. And it isn't modern!