Tate curators, who award what's known as The Turner Prize--the world's most provocative and prestigious contemporary art award, which is worth over $80,000.00, have shortlisted Cathy Wilkes, for her work entitled, "'I Give You All My Money"--
She has placed a mannequin on a lavatory next to two supermarket check-out counters. Four horse-shoes and bits of discarded wood dangle from wires attached to the mannequin's head. They appear to bear no relevance to the check-out counters on which the artist has arranged bowls and spoons, as well as empty jars with the remnants of food. Scattered across the floor are piles of tiles and broken pottery in a plastic bag.It really does invoke many questions from me, such as: Does Britain not have any mental institutions to put these malcontents in? And, isn't this art really just a mannequin sitting on the shitter with various crap spread throughout the room? And also, doesn't Britain have any mental institutions to put these malcontents in?
Sophie O'Brien, one of three Turner Prize curators, saw deep meaning in the installation, explaining that the artist was “searching out the language of objects - things we overlook in our daily life” - and making us look at them with “fresh eyes”. She claimed that the artist had placed each found object with extreme precision.
Her colleague, Judith Nesbitt, the Tate's chief curator, added: “It's as if the narrative has been stripped away. You're left trying to make sense of the objects to each other and to ourselves.”
She applauded the artist for prompting “so many questions” from the viewer.
The question isn't whether I think this is art or shit, the question is whether you do.
Well, is this a piece of art, or a piece of shit?
