Turner Prize 2001

This was my fourth year visiting the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain. As ever, as soon as the exhibition started, the inevitable ignorant backlash began in the newspapers, and the public immediately began their grumblings about the nature of art. "If it ain't a painting, then it ain't art", "My five-year-old could do that", and so on. No, of course, most of them hadn't been to see the exhibition - the very idea of parting with hard-earned cash in order to go and actually see the art is glorious anathema to them. Cosseted in their ignorance, they're happy not to actually go and see something, simply passing judgement ...

Looking at David Beckham picking up his well deserved no personality sports person of the year it couldn’t help remind me of the weekends other big winner. Martin Creed picked up a cool twenty grand for the Turner prize for switching alight on and off at the museum. Which is exactly what happens in Beckhams head on payday. They say if you want to make Posh n Beck’s eyes light up you should shine a torch into their ear. Two ludicrous wards have highlighted just how far we will go to be part of the crowd Previous winners of the modern art prize at the Tate have been Damien Hurst for his pickled live stock and Chris Offis for his elephant ...