Charles, Elsa and Ella, Nov 2003
On the tuner prize, protesting and Grayson Perry
For the last few years I have not protested against the Turner Prize. For one, it seems ridiculous that five people dressed as clowns standing in front of an art gallery makes the news, while 5000 protesting the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 did not. War is so much more important than some idiot's crumpled bits of paper or dirty sheets.
Also, the Turner Prize had got so bad it was beyond protest.
This year I went. I've been accused of hypocrisy, so wanted to set out my feelings as best I can…my reasons for going this time are indeed flimsy. The last few years, when I didn't bother protesting I didn't bother even going to see what was on offer. The lights going on and off was boring and pointless enough - why pay to see it? I can see lights go on and off for free every day on the communal balconies of the council estate where I live.
But this year I decided at the last minute to go along. Elsa was going and I hadn't seen her in ages. I wore a mask to hide my identity, as I was sheepishly protesting anyway (I forgot that I would named on the Stuckist website, oops). I admit I did not give the whole thing a lot of thought. I knew those Chapman brothers were involved, as if they aren't famous enough already for their worthless tat.
Of course one does have to see the show if one is to hold a placard outside. So I went in.
I tried to be more open-minded than usual, thinking the rotting fruit thing could have had potential; I'm not against unconventional material. But it fell flat as squashed apples from a bronze tree branch. The film was typically Turner Prize. Yawn. Nothing to say about Chapman Bros that hasn't been said already.
Then came the pots. And even if he hadn't been a transvestite (I have a soft spot for them you know), Grayson Perry's work was really good. Here was something hand crafted, with depth and meaning that was beautiful and disturbing. The work, unlike anything I've ever seen in the Turner Prize, was sincere. This guy could have been a Stuckist! We have Stuckist stone carvers and photographers, so why not a potter?
One of the points in Stuckism is sincerity. A passion to do something out of an internal drive and not for reward or to impress others. Stuckists argue that no one is going pickle a dead sheep out of necessity to express some inner emotion; it is merely for public attention. But what was obvious about Perry's work was that he would have made it even if there was no one to look at it. It was something inside him that had to be released.
I was so moved I even filled in a comment card. Of course he wouldn't win! What was a real artist even doing in this show that was usually only full of conceptual nonsense?
When I went back outside I felt like I ought not pick up a placard. But I still disagree with the prize overall, I was here already, I hadn't had a chat with Elsa yet, and I still had a full flask of coffee for everyone. Daniel Picham Phipps was also there and I hadn't seen him in ages either. So I stuck around.
You can image the later, when at home with my transvestite husband, watching the Turner Prize on TV, I was complete y shocked that the potter won.
I even exchanged a few emails with CT to the effect that Perry could have been a Stuckist. While CT did not disagree, no public statement was issued. In the morning papers, David Lee of the Jackdaw predictably dissed Perry's work; reference to Stuckism's protests have become as much as part of the Turner Prize as the steps outside Tate Britain itself.
What a missed opportunity to change our stance - or rather acknowledge that someone else might have changed theirs? Can't something be made of a Turner Prize winner whom Stuckism could endorse in some way? Could the Turner Prize be changing? Could the climate of modern art be moving in a more sincere, less frivolous direction? Could we have had some influence, or is it mere coincidence?
(Coming soon…more art essays…"why the Weather exhibit in Tate Modern is great"…. and "How visiting the centre in Lewenhagen Germany changed my views of what Stuckism exactly is")
E. Guru
12. 01. 04