Turner Prize Finalists: Is Art A TV Production Unit, Or Just Rubbish?

The four finalists of the Turner Prize have gone on display at the Tate Britain in London. They are Tomma Abts, Phil Collins, Mark Titchner and Rebecca Warren.

Phil Collin’s work includes a TV production company set up within the Tate (pictured above). His other work on display features a film of people in Turkey discussing how their lives were affected by appearing on reality TV. The Tate introduces his work as:

Phil Collins’s art investigates our ambivalent relationship with the camera as both an instrument of attraction and manipulation, of revelation and shame.

Mark Titchner’s hybrid installations, including t-shirts adorned with song lyrics and advertising slogans, interweaving philosophy and popular culture. The Tate says:

Mark Titchner’s art explores the tensions between the different belief systems that inform society, be they religious, scientific or political.

Helping the Sun newspaper use the headline, “Turner prize entry is rubbish”, Rebecca Warren’s work includes a neon-lit box of rubbish she collected from the floor. The Tate says:

Rebecca Warren positions herself within the lineage of a sculptural tradition. She re-works and intentionally misappropriates existing images by the accepted masters of figurative sculpture.

German-born artist Tomma Abts’ presents us with some interesting abstract paintings. The Tate says:

Tomma Abts’s paintings are the result of a rigorous working method that pitches the rational against the intuitive. She works consistently to a format of 48 x 38 centimetres in acrylic and oil paint. She uses no source material and begins with no preconceived idea of the final result. Instead, her paintings take shape through a gradual process of layering and accrual.

The winner will be named on 4 December.

Turner Prize