Hasta La Ideas

We love the annual Turner Prize, not simply because it’s one of the biggest art awards in the world, but because of how it seems to drive the British people, particularly those who happen to be journalists, and sometimes photographers, absolutely crazy. Artist Martin Boyce has won this year, and now that we’ve told you that, we can move on to the more fun stuff. The press, of course, has a yearly tradition of rabidly bashing the award; how terrible everything is, or how the winner shouldn’t have won (with the rare exception, like in 2009, when everyone seemed mildly happy, which couldn’t have been more dull). This year, for example, the Guardian‘s Jonathan Jones, who himself was a juror back in 2009, and at which time he declared that “Banksy is no longer hot,” files perhaps the best angry-Turner piece, calling the judging criteria “pretentious and empty” and saying that he’d “forgotten how stupid the Turner prize can be.” And that’s just from the first few sentences, so you can tell it’s a fun read. Outside of journalism, there was also some additional fun at the award announcement itself, when a streaker, with “study this” written in marker on his stomach and wearing a tutu, interrupted the proceedings until he was quickly apprehended by security (he’s since been released on bail). Why the Turner Prize makes the British have so much fun surrounding a modern art award, we have no idea, but we continue to be supremely jealous. Here’s video of the streaking:

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