Creed,thecriticismsandinstitutionalcontextAcontentanalysisofcritiquesonMartinCreed’sWorkNo.227:Thelights

goingonandoff

AmandaJohansson

DivisionforArtHistoryandVisualStudies

DepartmentofArtsandCulturalSciences

LundUniversity

KOVK03,15ECTS.B.Acourse,autumnsemester2018

Supervisor:MaxLiljefors

2

Abstract

Creed,thecriticismsandinstitutionalcontext

AcontentanalysisofcritiquesonMartinCreed’sWorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff

In December 2001,Martin Creed received the Turner Prize for his artworkWorkNo.

227:The lightsgoingonandoff(2000).Aminimalist light installation, simplistic in its

effectuation,yetcomplicatedenoughtoholdquestionsaboutwhatartisandwhatrole

the institution plays in valuing and validating art. The purpose of this thesis is to

conductaninvestigationofcritiquesinnewspaperarticles,artjournalarticlesandfrom

websitesofmajorartgalleriesonMartinCreed’sWorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonand

off.Thiswillbedone throughacontextanalysisof critiquesonCreed’sWorkNo.227:

The Lights Going On And Off published in newspapers during the days following the

Turner prize announcement and critiques published in art journals and on gallery

websites until written day. The results of the content analysis suggest that the

newspaper articleswere considerablymore negative in their validations ofWorkNo.

227. This could especially be seen in the article titles, how they chose to reference to

other artists and their lesser appreciation of the phenomena of presenting an empty

space.Thecontentanalysiswilllaygroundforadiscussionontherelationshipbetween

WorkNo.227andthegalleryspaceaswellasitsinstitutionalcontext.

Keywords:MartinCreed,TurnerPrize2001,WorkNo.227:TheLightsGoingOnAndOff,

installationart,institutionalarttheory

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ListofContents

1Introduction 41.1Background 41.2Purposeofstudy 51.3Theoriesandmethods 51.3.1Methods 51.3.2Theories 6

1.4Earlierresearchandrelevanceofsubject 61.5Subjectdelimitationsandmaterial 61.6Definitions 81.7Thesisstructure 8

2WorkNo.227:TheLightsGoingOnAndOff 92.1AnalysingWorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoffthroughdocumentation 112.2Thewhitecubephenomena 122.3Institutionalarttheory 132.4Literaturesummaryandcomparisons 15

3Contentanalysis 163.1Materialandrelevance 163.2Referencesinarticletitles 173.3Referencestotheartworkandartist’spractice 193.4Referencestotheevent 213.5Referencestootherartistsandallegories 223.6Referencestothegalleryspace 243.7Otherobservations 263.8Conclusionsandresultsofcontentanalysis 27

4Analysisandconclusion 286References 316.1Printedreferences 316.2Internetsources 316.3Listoffigures 32

7AppendixA 33

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1Introduction

1.1Background

In2001,MartinCreedreceivedtheTurnerPrizeforhisWorkno227:TheLightsGoing

OnAndOf(2000).1Theartworkconsistsofanelectricaltimerinstalledtoalreadyfitted

gallerylights,makingthelightsgoonandoffinfive-secondintervals.2Thedayfollowing

the2001TurnerPrize-winnerannouncement,Creed’sinstallationgoteggsthrownatit

byfellowartistJacquelineCrofton.Crofton,whoissincebarredfromtheTategalleries,

explainedheractionsbysayinghowshehasnothingagainstCreed, just thatshedoes

“notthinkhisworkshouldbeconsideredasart”.3

TheTurnerPrize isoneof themostprestigiousartprizes inBritainandadebated

annual art event, both in art journals and commercial newspapers.Martin Creed and

Work No. 227 faced numerous critiques in the days that followed the 2001

announcementandgotanother roundofpublicityafterbeingpurchased in2013.The

artwork was by estimation valued at £110 000, and bought by Tate Britain, which

alreadyownedthespaceandlightbulbswhichwereusedtocreatetheartwork.4Work

No.227holdsaspecialrelationshipwiththegalleryspaceinwhichitisinstalled.Since

the work solely consists of an electrical timer that modifies an already existing light

source,theroominwhichitisviewedbecomespartoftheartwork.AtTateBritainand

MoMA New York, the artwork was displayed in spaces that had the architectural

qualities of thewhite cube. Therefore, the impact of thewhite cube is relevantwhen

regardingWorkNo.227.MartinCreedisawell-knownartist inBritainandaroundhe

world,continuinglyplayingwiththerulesofartmakingandthenotionofwhatartis,or

canbe.HeisknownforartworksWorkNo.79:SomeBlu-Tackkneaded,rolledintoaball,

anddepressedagainstawall(1993)andWorkNo.88:AsheetofA4papercrumpledintoa

ball(1995).

1WorkNo.227:ThelightsgoingonandoffwillfromnowonbeshortenedtoWorkNo.2272H.Delaney,‘WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff’,TateBritain[website],2010,<https://www.tate.org.uk>accessed10Dec.2018.3M.Mcglown,‘ProtestereggsTurnerlightshow’,EveningStandard,12Dec.2001,<https://www.standard.co.uk/news/protester-eggs-turner-light-show-6335112.html>,accessed3.Jan2019.4N.Clark,’TateacquiresMartinCreed’scontroversialTurnerPrize-winningpieceWorkNo227’,TheIndependent,2Sep.2013,<https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/tate-acquires-martin-creeds-controversial-turner-prize-winning-piece-work-no-227-8795204.html>,accessed3Jan.2019.

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1.2Purposeofstudy

The purpose of this thesis is to conduct an investigation of critiques in newspaper

articles,art journalarticlesandfromwebsitesofmajorartgalleriesonMartinCreed’s

WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff.Theinstitutionwillplayacentralroleinthis

thesis. Both the architectural involvement of the gallery space and the institutional

contextwillbeanalysed.Hence,thisstudywillbeconductedwiththepurposeoffinding

ananswer to the followingthesisquestion: InwhatwaysareWorkNo227:TheLights

GoingOnAndOff presented and criticised in British newspapers, art journals and on

gallery websites? Which words or phrases are reoccurring and how do these act as

valuation of the work? The sub-question to this thesis is: Can the ideas about the

institutioncollectedfrominstitutionalarttheorybeappliedtotheresultsofthecontent

analysis?

1.3Theoriesandmethods

1.3.1Methods

This thesis will be divided into three sections where the first part of the essay will

conduct research on installation art, how to write about performances through

documentation, on the white cube phenomena and on institutional critique. This is

partly done in order to function as a knowledge base where the conditions and

perspectivesfromwherethisthesis iswrittenareestablished.This literatureresearch

will also present the actuality and authenticity of the research that will follow. The

secondpartofthethesiswillbeaformalanalysisofWorkNo.227.Thisisdoneinorder

toanalysetheartworkandtosetWorkNo.227inrelationtoearlierworksbyCreed.The

third part of the researchwill be a content analysis, conducted through themethods

providedbyGillianRoseinchapter3,Contentanalysisandchapter6,Discourseanalysis

IinVisualMethodologies(2016)5.Here,thecontentisbasedonintertextuality,focusing

on reoccurringwords andphrases in the articles, but alsoon thevalue thesephrases

bearandsuggest.

5G.,Rose,VisualMethodologies,4thedn,SAGEPublicationsLtd,California,2016.

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1.3.2Theories

Thetheoriesthatwillbeusedinthisthesiswillbeinstitutionalarttheory,derivedfrom

ArthurDanto’s‘TheArtworld’from19646,GeorgeDickie’s‘DefiningArt’from19697and

‘What is art? An institutional analysis’ from 19748. Both articles written by Dickie

somewhatworkas responses toDanto’s ‘TheArtworld’.Partly, since theyarewritten

within the decade followingDanto’s ‘The Artworld’ and partly since they are derived

from Danto’s ideas about institutional art theory. Brian O’Doherty’s theories on the

whitecubephenomenafromchapterI. ‘NotesontheGallerySpace’ inInsidetheWhite

Cube:TheIdeologyoftheGallerySpace9willalsobeused.

1.4Earlierresearchandrelevanceofsubject

MartinCreed,beingaTurnerPrize-winnerandarelativelyfamousartistaroundtheUK,

isquitefrequentlywrittenaboutandappearsinbookssuchasContemporaryArtinthe

UnitedKingdom(2014)10andMartinCreed:What'sthePointofIt?(2014)11.Biographical

texts and exhibition catalogueswill not be regarded, as this thesis onlywill focus on

WorkNo.227,andtheselectedarticles.In2007,BenteLarsenpublishedthearticle,‘On–

Off–On–Off.ADiscussionofMartinCreed’sWork,TheLightsGoingOnandOff’butthe

articleisinaccessible.12

1.5Subjectdelimitationsandmaterial

TherestrictionsofthisthesiswillbetothecasestudyofWorkNo.227.Earlierworksof

Martin Creed has resemblance to Work No. 227 but the only artwork that will be

researchedisWorkNo.227(2000),displayedatTateBritainandMoMANewYork.The

installationwillonlyberegardedthroughphotographyandvideodocumentationfrom

TateBritainandMoMANewYork.Hence,theworkwillonlybeassessedintheformatof

agalleryspacewiththearchitecturalelementsofthewhitecube.

6A.Danto,‘TheArtworld’,TheJournalofPhilosophy,vol.61,no.19,1964,pp.571-584.7G.Dickie,‘Definingart’,AmericanPhilosophicalQuarterly,vol.6,no.3,1969,pp.253-256.8G.Dickie,‘Whatisart?AnInstitutionalAnalysis’,inP.Alpersoned.,ThePhilosophyoftheVisualArts,OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,1992,pp.434-444.9B.O’Doherty,InsidetheWhiteCube:TheIdeologyoftheGallerySpace,TheLapisPress,SanFrancisco,1986.10P.Adler&J.Slyce,ContemporaryArtintheUnitedKingdom-Artworld5,BlackdogPress,London,2014.11R.Rugoff,P.Morley&B.Bailey,MartinCreed:What'sthePointofit?,HaywardGalleryPublishing,London,2014.12ThroughemailcorrespondencewithLarsenIhavelearntthatthearticlehasnotbeenpublishedonlineandthatLarsenherselfhasnotsavedahardcopyofiteither.

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Ideas from Amelia Jones’ ‘”Presence” in absentia, Experiencing Performances as

Documentation’(1997)13andClaireBishop’sInstallationArt:AcriticalHistory(2005)14

willbeusedasafoundationinconductingacasestudythroughdocumentation.Chapter

I.‘NotesontheGallerySpace’inBrianO’Doherty’sInsidetheWhiteCube:TheIdeologyof

theGallerySpace (1986)15will be used to understand the architectural phenomena of

thewhitecube.CritiquesonWorkNo.227willberesearchedthroughacontentanalysis.

Thismethodwillassistinunderstandinghowtheartworkhasbeendiscussedinmedia

andinmoreestablishedartcontexts.ThecritiquesonWorkNo.227willberestrictedto

onlyahandfulofnewspapers,whereallofthearticleshavebeenpublishedbetweenthe

10th and 11th of December 2001. This is because of their actuality in regards to the

announcementofthe2001TurnerPrize-winner,theiraccessibilityandrelevance.This

is alsodonewith the idea that thesearticles arewritten independentlyof eachother.

Thecritiquesfromartgallerywebsitesandartjournalswillhavealargerrangeontheir

publicationdates,arguingthattheyarenotasdependantonactuality,neitherarethey

publishedtosellheadlines.16

Among these articles, two have been written by Adrian Searle, art critic of The

Guardian.Thefirstarticle,publishedonthe10thofDecember2001,‘Aworkthatdidnot

need to be made’ is a one-page comment to the announcement of the Turner Prize-

winner.Thearticlepublishedonthefollowingday,‘Easydoesit’,isalongerarticlethat

entailsmore personal reflections from Searle. Although both arewritten by the same

writer,theyhighlightdifferentaspectsandhavethereforebeenused.ProspectandNew

Statesman are periodicals focusing on topics such as politics and culture. Articles

retrievedfromherewillstillgoundertherangeofartjournals,astheyarewrittenquite

differently from the newspaper articles. Two articles have been retrieved from the

13A.Jones’”Presence”inabsentia:ExperiencingPerformanceasDocumentation’,ArtJournal,Vol.56,No.4,1997.14C.Bishop,InstallationArt:ACriticalHistory,Tate,London,2010.15O’Doherty,loc.cit.16Thenewspaperarticlesthatwillbeusedare:‘Blinkandyou’llmissit’byLouiseJuryand‘Thetailorwhocreatedtheemperor'snewclothes’byCharlotteMullins forTheIndependent. ‘Easydoes it’and ‘Aworkthatdidnotneed tobemade’byAdrianSearle forTheGuardian. ‘TurnerPrizewonbymanwho turnslightsoff’byNigelReynolds forTheTelegraph.Theart journalarticles thatwillbeusedare: ‘WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff’,writtenbyHelenDelaney,May2010forTateBritain’swebsite. ‘MartinCreedWorkNo:227:TheLightsGoingOnAndOff’, thegallery label fromMoMANewYork’sexhibitionOutofTime:AContemporaryView,August30,2006–April9,2007,writerunknown.‘Tatethat’,NedDennyforNewStatesman,Vol.31,Issue4565,2001and‘TurnerPrize2001:TateBritain’,AnneColin,ArtPressno 277 75-6, 2002.HephzibahAnderson, ‘Genius or joke?What’s the point of the artistMartin Creed’,publishedinProspectMarch2014.

8

websites of Tate Britain and MoMA New York but will in this essay go under the

categoryof‘artjournalarticles’.

1.6Definitions

Artjournalarticles:Thisphrasewillbeusedfurtheronasacollectivephraseforthe

articles retrieved from Prospect, New Statesman and Art Press as well as from the

websitesofMoMANewYorkandTateBritain.This issimplydueto limitedspaceand

simplicityforthereader.

Installationart:Three-dimensionalworksthatarecreatedtochangetheperception

ofaspace.

Newspaperarticles:ThearticlesthathavebeenretrievedfromTheIndependent,The

TelegraphandTheGuardianwill inthefuturebereferencedtoas ’newspaperarticles’.

Thisissimplyduetolimitedspaceandsimplicityforthereader.

Performance:Artisticactionspresentedinfrontofanaudience.

TheWhiteCube:Anarchitecturalphenomenonthatoftenisseeninmodernmuseums

and art galleries around the world. Elements include white painted walls, hardwood

floorsandlimitedaccesstonaturallights.Thetermisderivedfromitsresemblanceofa

whitecube.

1.7Thesisstructure

Inchaptertwo,thisthesiswillbeginwithaformalanalysisonMartinCreed’sWorkNo.

227: The Lights Going On And Off. Continuingly, research from Amelia Jones, Claire

Bishop and Brian O’Doherty on analysing performance and installation art through

documentation and the white cube phenomena. George Dickie’s and Arthur Danto’s

theories on institutional art critique will be used to understandWork No. 227 in its

relations to the institution. In chapter three, a content analysis will be conducted

through critiques retrieved from The Independent, The Telegraph, The Guardian,

Prospect, Art Press, New Statesman and the websites of MoMA New York and Tate

Britain.Thiswillbefollowedbyananalysis inchapterfour,wherethethesiswill take

the results from the content analysis into consideration in regards to the institutional

contextaroundWorkNo.227.

9

2WorkNo.227:TheLightsGoingOnAndOffMartin Creed is an English born artist, brought up in Scotland. He is known for his

minimalistartworkssayinghowheisan“artistwhodoesn’tmakeart.”17Sincetheearly

90s, Creed has given his artworks

numbers that in some cases are

followed by an explanatory title. He

began with number 3 and has in

written time reached above number

2000, having skipped some numbers

intentionally.18

Work No. 227 is a one-medium

light installation consisting of an

electricaltimerthatswitchesthelight

onandoffconsequentlyinfive-second

intervals. The timer is placed onto

fittedgallery lightswithin an existing

galleryspacewherenothinghasbeen

placed, nor been removed. The

installation is placed within a gallery

space that has the architectural

qualitiesof thewhitecube.Thespace

has painted white walls, concrete

floorsandtheonlylightsourcearethe

ceiling lamps.19 What Work No. 227

heredoes, is to takeadvantageof the

constructed room and modifies the space by simply adding a timer, creating an

installation that consists only of what was already inside the room. Although only

modifying the lights, the feelingandunderstandingof thespacechangesdrasticallyas

theeyevigorouslyseeksformaterials,onlytofindtheemptyspace.Here,thefocusgets

drawn to the emptywalls, floors and ceilings, andCreed creates an installation that’s

17A.Colin,‘TurnerPrize2001:TateBritain’,tr.C.Penwarden,ArtPress,no.277,2002,p.75.18H.Anderson,‘Geniusorjoke?’,Prospect,Mar2014,no.216,pp.50-54.19O’Doherty,op.cit.,p.15.

Figure1:MartinCreed,WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff,2000,MoMA,NewYork,2007.

Figure1:MartinCreed,WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff,2000,MoMA,NewYork,2000.

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fillingtheentireroomalthoughnothinghasbeenaddedtotheexistingspace.WorkNo.

227bearssimilaritiestootherworksofMartinCreedandlightsswitchingonandoffisa

reoccurring theme inCreed’spractice.ExamplesareWorkNo.127:Thelightsgoingon

andoff(1995)wherethelightwentonandoffin30secondintervalsandWorkNo.254:

Thelightsinabuildinggoingonandoff(2000)wherethelightsatCamdenArtsCentrein

Londonwentonandoffinone-secondintervals.

WorkNo.127isinparticularsimilartoWorkNo.227butthisthesiswillarguethatthey

areindividualpiecesofart.Foronce,sincetheartworksbeardifferenttitles,theartist

Figure2:MartinCreed,WorkNo.127:Thelightsgoingonandoff,1995,locationunknown.

Figure3:MartinCreed,WorkNo.254:Thelightsinabuildinggoingonandoff,2000,CamdenArtsCentre,London,2000.

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claims that theworksdiffer fromeachother.Secondly, thedimensionsandplacement

aredifferentfromeachother,emphasisingontheimportanceofthespaceinwhichthe

artwork has been installed. The experience inside a white cube within a major

institution compared to the experience as can be imagined from Figure 2would also

differconsiderably.Nodoubt,WorkNo.227isinspiredfromWorkNo.127butshouldbe

regardedseparatelyandindependentlyfromearlierworksofMartinCreed.

2.1 Analysing Work No. 227: The lights going on and off through

documentation

Amelia Joneswrites in ‘”Presence” in absentia’ about analysingperformances through

documentation.Jones,borninthebeginningofthe1960s,claimsshewastooyoungto

experience many of the most notable and radical body art performances.20Although

focusing on performances, Jones’ article can be applicable on other types of works

studied through documentation. She suggests the viewer may seem to have some

advantagesinhavingexperiencedtheperformancefirsthandbutraisethequestionof

difficulties in comprehending thenarrative in themoment.Thesedifficultiesmightbe

easiertogripwhenregardingtheperformanceinretrospectaftertheperformancehas

etched itself into the viewer’smemory.21Primal feelings such as fright, excitement or

discomfortmayaffecttheinitialunderstandingsoftheperformanceandtheviewermay

notbeabletodisregardtheseuntiltheyhavebeenprocessed.Performances,according

to Jones,relyondocumentation foracknowledging iteverhavinghappenedaswellas

achieving status amongst other art forms. The documentationmay simply seem as a

supplementtotheactualperformancebutbecomesinitselfaworkofartrepresenting

anactionthathasoccurred.Thephotograph,likeanactiveviewer,capturesonepointof

viewoftheperformanceandcanbecreditedequallytotheviewer,thedifferencebeing

thatthephotographcanbecloselystudiedwhereasthehumanmindcannot.22

In the case of Creed’sWork No. 227, the simplicity of the installation may cause

confusionwith theviewer in the initialapproach.Becauseof the lackof rawmaterial,

the search for artefacts and the attempt to understand the work may interfere with

appreciatingtheminimalistinstallationforwhatitis.Equallytoperformances,WorkNo.

227isdependantonexistingthroughdocumentation.Sincetheartworkisnolongeron

20Jones,op.cit.,p.11.21ibid.22ibid.,p.14.

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displayatTateBritain,documentationoftheworkiscrucialforprovingtheeventever

havinghappened.

In InstallationArt:ACriticalHistory,Claire Bishop aims to straighten out the term

‘installation art’. 23 What installations aim to achieve is to highlight the viewer’s

awarenessandexperience.As installationart forcestheviewertophysicallyenter the

space, the work demands a more active role from the viewer, whether he or she is

comfortablewith this ornot.An installation should alwaysbe seen as awhole entity,

joiningthematerials,venueandartefactsasone.24Thepresenceinthespacegiveslittle

freedom to the viewer in being parted from the installation and Bishop raise the

questionofwhatsortofparticipationtheinstallationsuggests,ordemands.Isitpossible

to just be a viewer of the work or does he or she inevitably become part of the

installation? Emphasising on the active presence whilst experiencing installation art,

Bishopbringsupthedifficultiesofwritingaboutinstallationart,especiallytheonesyou

havenotexperiencedfirst-handed.25Bishopstates, “Visualisationofaworkasathree-

dimensionalspaceisdifficultviaatwo-dimensionalimage,andtheneedtobephysically

inside an installation renders photographic documentation even less satisfactory than

whenitisusedtoreproducepaintingandsculpture.”26EventhoughBishopmakesthis

statement, she continues to analyse installations she has both seen first-handed and

worksshehasonlyexperiencedthroughdocumentation.

Activeness and awareness of the viewer is central in Creed’sWorkNo.227 and as

Bishopstates, this is theaimof installationart.Bishopalso states that installationart

can present actual elements instead of represent them and therefore heightens the

senseofreality.Usingalreadyfittedgallerylights,Creednotonlypresentselementsbut

takesadvantageofalreadyexistingones inthegalleryspace.Hence,notpresentingor

re-enactingrealitybutisreality.

2.2Thewhitecubephenomena

BrianO’Dohertycoined theexpression thewhitecube inhis threepartedessay Inside

the white cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space, published 1976 in Artforum. Here,

O’Doherty deals with different aspects of the notion of the white cube. In Chapter I.

‘Noteson theGallery Space’,O’Doherty acknowledgeshowsincemodernism,oncewe23Bishop,op.cit.,p.6.24ibid.25ibid.,pp.10-11.26ibid.

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enteraroomwhichdisplaysmodernart,weseethespacebeforeweseetheobjects.27

Thewhite,cleanandartificialspacethatgoeshandinhandwithmodernartisdifficult

todisregard inboththediscourseandexperience.Whatthisspacecontributeswith is

thesubtractionofeverythingthatcouldnotbeconsideredbeingart.Thearchitectural

featuresoftheroomproduceauniqueplacewhereartandaestheticalworkisexpected

to be viewed and judged.28“So powerful are the perceptual fields of forcewithin this

chamber that, once outside it, art can lapse into secular status. Conversely, things

becomeart ina spacewherepowerful ideasaboutart focuson them.”29AsO’Doherty

herestates,theimpactofthewhitecubeissopowerfulthatwhateverisplacedwithinit

becomesart.Notbecauseoftheartisticqualities,butbecauseof itscontextwithinthe

institution.Theoutsideworldissealedofffromthespaceandnothingwithinitreminds

ofnatural elements.Thewalls arepaintedwhite and thewindowsare sealedoff.The

onlysourceoflightisusuallyeitherfromoverheadlampsorroofwindows.Everything

about the space ismeantnot todistract the eye, so that the artworks canbe free.30A

centralpart inthewhitecube is inevitablythewall,whichaccordingtoO’Dohertyhas

becomeanaesthetic force,modifyinganythinghangedon it.31O’Dohertybringsupthe

exampleofWilliamAnasti,whoin1965tookphotographsofthegallerywallsatDwan

in New York. The photographs were silkscreened onto canvases that were slightly

smallerthantheactualwalls.Theexhibitionconsistedofjustthat,photographsofwalls,

mounted on top of those verywalls.32Not onlywould the photographs be related to

those very walls at Dwan, but the walls would since bear a different status than

previously, being levelled to the same status as other works of art presented on the

samewalls.

2.3Institutionalarttheory

In ‘What is art?’, Dickie refers toDanto’s ‘TheArtworld’ in explaining the termof the

institution.Here,hebringsuptheexampleofthetheatre:

27O’Doherty,op.cit.,p.14.28ibid.29ibid.30ibid.,p.15.31ibid.,p.29.32ibid.,p.34.

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Therolesoftheactorsandtheaudiencearedefinedbythetraditionsofthetheater.Whatthe author,management andplayerspresent is art, and it is art because it is presentedwithin the theater-world framework. Plays are written to have a place in the theatersystemandtheyexistsasplays,thatisasart,withinthatsystem.33

Likethetheatre,theartworldconsistsofasystemwhereobjectspresentedwithinanart

constellation become art. Not because of their aesthetics and not because ofwhom it

wascreatedbybutbecauseitexistsandisplacedwithinthesystemofthe institution.

Dickiecontinuinglystatesthateventhoughthetheatreisarichillustrationofthenature

of the institution, Dadaism far more easily reveal the essence of the institution. In

particular,heisreferringtoDuchampandotherDadaistswhoworkedwithreadymades

and the discussion about conferring the status of art.34Before the Dadaists, classical

paintersandsculptorsfollowedacertainsystem.Inthisprocesstheartists,accordingto

Danto, created art for the purposes of portraying a person, fulfilling a commission,

working for his living and so on.35 The aesthetic aspects, techniques or accurate

representationwereinfocusandborestatus.InDadaism,theworksofartmaynotbe

worthmuchasobjects,butveryvaluableforarttheory.Duchamp’sreadymadesforced

thespectatorawayfromthephysicalandaestheticalproperties,pushinghimorherto

consider theconceptandtheirsocialcontexts.36Dickieclarifieshedoesnotclaimthat

Duchamp and otherDadaists invented the conferring of the status of the art but that

theyused theexisting institutionaldevice inanunusualway.Duchampdidnot invent

theartworld;itwasthereallalong.37Dantoin‘TheArtworld’alsodiscusstheconceptof

readymades, and the example of Warhol’s Brillo Box is raised.38The argument why

Warhol’sBrilloBox,inoppositiontocommercialBrilloBoxes,isanartworkisbecauseof

itsplacementwithinthegalleryspace.IncontrarytocommercialBrilloBoxes,Warhol’s

BrilloBoxcouldnotbefoundinthegeneralstorebutonlywithinaninstitution.39Hence,

whenplacedwithin a gallery space, anobject becomes an artwork, not becauseof by

33Dickie,‘Whatisart’pp.437-438.34ibid.35ibid.36ibid.37ibid.38Warhol’sBrilloBoxisanartworkfrom1964whereWarholcopiedthedesignanddimensionsofactualpackagingforBrillo,anAmericansteelwoolcompany.Insteadofbeingmadeoutofcardboard,Warhol’sartworkwasmadeoutofwood,paintedinwhitewithserigraphicprintinblueandred.39Danto,op.cit.,pp.580-581.

15

whomitwasmadeorwhatmaterialwasusedbutbecauseithasearnedaplaceinthe

artworld.40

As for Creed’sWorkNo. 227, the similarities to Warhol’s Brillo Box are many. As

statedbyDanto, it isnot thematerial,howmuchtheproductioncostorbywhomthe

artworkismadethatisimportant,butthattheartworkhasearnedtobeplacedwithin

an institution. This is the core of the discussion on what art is and the role of the

institution. Artworks are not placed in institutions to be functional, but to evoke

opinionsandemotions.

2.4Literaturesummaryandcomparisons

ThekeyelementsinJones’textcentreontheabilityofvisualisingtwo-dimensionalwork

into three-dimensional. She performs this herself via case studies, some she only has

studies throughdocumentationandoneshehasexperiencedherself.Shebelievesthat

heranalysisof theworksshehasonlyseenthroughdocumentationdoesnotsuffer in

anyway.Bishop,ontheotherhand,actasaresponsetoJonesclaimingthatthecapture

of the room and the feeling of not being in control is crucial in experiencing and

analysing installation art. Installations present textures and spaces, which cannot be

experiencedthroughdocumentationbutonlythoughphysicalinteraction.Eventhough

this statement, Bishop chooses to analyse installation art she herself only have seen

through documentation. When regarding the white cube, O’Doherty claims that the

white cube is not pinpointed to a certain location but to architectural elements. The

white cube is shielded from time and space and the experience is a particular one.

Hence, hypothetically, experiences with different white cubes would not differ from

eachotherasthewhitecubehasasetarchitecturalform.Thiswouldthenmeanthatif

one has experienced thewhite cube once, onewould have the ability to imagine and

visualisinganywhitecube.Hence,thevisualisationofWorkNo.227two-dimensionally

wouldbesupportedbyone’sperviousexperienceofthewhitecubewouldandtherefore

nolongeronlybeavisualisationbutinfactanexperience.Theoneelementmissingthen

wouldbetheceilinglightsgoingonandoffinintervals,whichwouldbeconsideredas

aneasyfunctiontovisualise.

The white cube holds a second function, as can be understood from Danto and

Dickie’s ideas on institutional art theory. As Danto and Dickie writes, the art status

40ibid.

16

shiftedwithDuchampandtheDadaists.Insteadoffocusingontechniques,preciseness

between the portrait and the portrayed or aesthetic properties of artworks, Dadaists

movedthefocustotheconceptandsocialcontextofanartwork.Here,weseeexamples

such as Duchamp’s readymades and consecutive artists such asWarhol whoworked

withthesametypeofconcepts.TheexampleofWarhol’sBrilloBox isveryrelevantto

MartinCreed’sWorkNo.227.AsDantostates,theartworkBrilloBoxdifferedfromactual

Brillo Boxes as theywere placedwithin an institution. The same applies toWorkNo.

227,whichalsoisconstructedtoliveandstayinsidethegalleryspace.Thesimilarities

betweenBrilloBoxandWorkNo.227isthattheybothtaketheshapeofitems,packaging

boxes and lamps, one is used to see in ordinary constellations (the realworld). They

both may have taken inspiration from events happening in the real world, lights

switching and packaging boxes, but transformed these into concepts,which has been

placedintheinstitution,orartworld.Iftheyweretobebroughtintotherealworld,the

artworkshavenofunction,astheBrilloBoxistooheavytobeapackagingboxandWork

No.227beinganon-functioninglamp.

3Contentanalysis

3.1MaterialandrelevanceWhichwordsorphrasesarereoccurringandhowdotheseactasvaluationofthework?

Everyyear,theTurnerPrize-winnerbecomesoneofthemostdebatedintheartworld

andmedia. Martin Creedwas no exception in 2001 and his workwas discussed and

criticised in most major newspapers around Britain. A content analysis will be

conductedinordertoprovideanswerstothethesisquestion:InwhatwaysareWorkNo

227: The Lights Going On And Off presented and criticised in British newspapers, art

journalsandongallerywebsites?

Fivenewspaperarticleshavebeenchosen,allpublishedbetweenthe10thand11thof

December2001.Thisselectionismadepartlybecauseofitsnewsvalueasthesearticles

werepublished in thedays followingCreed’s announcementas thewinnerandpartly

becausetheshort timerange indicatesthat thearticleswerewritten independentlyof

oneandother.41Fivemorearticleshavebeenchosentorepresentart journalsandthe

41Thesenewspaperarticleswillbeanalysed:1.L.Jury, ‘Blinkandyou’llmissit,thelightworkthattooktheTurnerprize’,TheIndependent,10Dec.2001.2.C.Mullins,‘Thetailorwhocreatedtheemperor’snewclothes’,TheIndependent,11Dec.2001.3.A.Searle,‘Easydoesit’,TheGuardian,11Dec.2001.

17

websitesofmajorartinstitutions.Descriptionsoftheworkhavebeenretrievedfromthe

websitesofTateBritainandMoMANewYork.ArticlesfromArtPress,ProspectandNew

Statesmanhavealsobeenretrieved.Thesearticles’publicationdatesrange from2001

until2014,withtheargumentthatthesearticlesdoesnotrelyonactualityasmuchas

thenewspaperarticlesdoes.42

The words and phrases that have been selected for this content analysis are

reoccurringwords thatwere foundwhen examining the articles. The selectionswere

madewithoutpreconceivednotionsandtheprocessdevelopedbyreadingthearticles

repeatedly.Wordsandphrasesthatdiscusstheartwork,theeventinsidetheinstallation

andadjectivesdescribingtheartist,artworkandthegalleryspacehavebeenprioritised

as these fit the best purpose for this thesis. Following, a number of headlineswill be

presented where the critiques have been divided into references in article titles,

references to the artwork and artist’s practice, references to the event, references to

otherartistsandallegoriesandreferencestothegalleryspace.Threetofivereoccurring

phrases, words or indications will be presented, where the number of articles that

includethesewillbepresented(X/10).PleaseseeAppendixAforthefulltablechart.In

thetablecharts,thewordorphrasehasbeenmarkedasneutral(neu.),negative(neg.)

andpositive(pos.),afterhowtheyhavebeendiscussedbythewritersintheircontext.

Theseassociationsarestrictlyinrelationstothisparticularcontentanalysisandshould

notbeseenasacommonknowledge.Thearticlewritershasneitheranywherestatedif

theyhavewritten thesewords inaneutral,negativeorpositive context,buthasbeen

conductedbythisthesisforthepurposeofanalysingthedata.

3.2Referencesinarticletitles

Referencetotheartistortheartwork 3/10

ReferencestotheTurnerPrizeorTateBritain 3/10

Referencetothesimplicityorinvisibilityoftheartwork 5/10

4.A.Searle, ‘Awork thatdidnotneed tobemade’,TheGuardian,10Dec.2001.5.N.Reynolds, ‘TurnerPrizewonbymanwhoturnslightsoff’,TheTelegraph,10Dec.2001.42Theseart journalarticleswillbeanalysed:6.H.Delaney, ‘WorkNo.227:The lightsgoingonandoff’,TateBritain[website],2010.7.‘MartinCreed.WorkNo.227.TheLightsGoingOnAndOff.2000’,Gallerylabel, MoMA New York’s exhibition Out of Time: A Contemporary View, August 30 2006–April 9 2007,writerunknown.8.N.Denny,‘Tatethat’,NewStatesman,vol.130,no.4565,2001.9.A.Colin,‘TurnerPrize2001:TateBritain’,ArtPressno27775-6,2002.10.H.Anderson,‘Geniusorjoke?What’sthepointoftheartistMartinCreed’,Prospect,no.216,2014.

18

Whenbeingfacedwiththearticles,thetitlesstandoutastheydifferfromquitedistinct

and opinionated titles tomore objective and neutral ones. The titles instantly set the

tone for the writer’s perspective and a grand difference can be seen between the

newspaper articles and the art journal articles. Three of the articles have titles that

contains references to the artistMartinCreed, or the title of the artwork.All of these

articlesare retrieved fromart journals, andareall interpretedneutrally.Additionally,

threearticlesbeartitleswherereferencestoTateBritainortheTurnerPrizearemade.

Twoof theseare fromtheart journalarticlesandonecanbe found in thenewspaper

articles. An example is article no. 8 ‘Tate that’, written by Ned Denny for New

Statesman.43Thetitlemaybeaplaytothephrase‘takethat’whichsometimesissaidas

someone hits someone else, especially in comical films or cartoons.44This title is the

onlyartjournalarticlethathasbeeninterpretednegatively.Whenitcomestothetitles

of the newspaper articles, all five of the titles have been interpreted negatively. An

exampleisno.5,writtenbyNigelReynoldsforTheTelegraph,‘TurnerPrizewonbyman

who turns lights off’.45Although referencing to the Turner Prize, the entire title in

written sceptically of bothWorkNo.227 andMartinCreed. For instance, Creed is not

mentionedbynamebutisbeingreferencedtoas‘man’,notevencallingCreedanartist.

The results of the analysis of titles are that the art journal articles bear more often

neutraltitleswheretheartistandartworkarereferencedtocorrectly.Thenewspaper

articlesbearmoreoftenopinionatedtitlesthatseldomcontainstheartist’snameorthe

titleoftheartwork.

The initial analysis must take into consideration that the newspaper articles rely

moreontheheadlinestandingoutinordertosell,whereastheartjournalsoftenaren’t

faced with the same issue. The analysis suggests that art journal articles often bear

neutraltitles,whichmakesthereaderexpecttoreadcritiquesthathaveamoreneutral

standpoint. The newspaper articles havemore colourful titles, many of them already

givingawaythecriticsperceptionoftheartwork.

Inconclusion,halfofthearticletitleshaveareferencetothesimplicityorinvisibility

oftheartworkincorporatedwithinthetitle.Allofthesearetitlesofnewspaperarticles

43N.Denny,’Tatethat’,TheStatesman,vol.130,no.4565,2001.44Definition:saidassomeonehitssomeoneelse,especiallyinhumorousfilmsorcartoons(CambridgeDictionary,<www.dictionary.cambridge.org>),accessed18.Dec2018.45N.Reynolds,‘TurnerPrizewonbymanwhoturnslightsoff’,TheTelegraph,10Dec.2001,<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1364860/Turner-Prize-won-by-man-who-turns-lights-off.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.

19

whereasallofthemareinterpretednegatively.Theotherfiveartjournalarticleschoose

to reference either to the artwork, the artist Martin Creed, the Turner Prize or Tate

Britain.Ofthesefivearticles,onlyoneofthetitlesisinterpretednegatively(articleno.

8),whereastheremainingfourhavebeeninterpretedneutrally.Theresultofthisisthat

by solely looking at the titles, the art journal articles seems to be written more

professionallyandobjectivelythanthenewspaperarticles.Thus,theseareseenasmore

trustworthyandlessopinionated.

3.3Referencestotheartworkandartist’spractice

Minimalistic 6/10

Almostnothing 5/10

Witty 4/10

Insixofthearticles,eitherWorkNo.227orthepracticeofMartinCreedisdescribedas

‘minimalistic’.Threeofthesedescriptionsoccur intheart journalarticlesandthreeof

them can be found in the newspaper articles. This find is not surprising, as Creed’s

practicewouldfallunderthecategoryofbeingminimalistic.

The phrase ‘almost nothing’ or ‘nothingness’ can be found in five of the articles

studied. This usage is interpreted as positive or neutral in four of the articles, and

negativeinonearticle.Thephraseisinterpretednegativelyinnewspaperarticleno.2,

writtenbyMullins.“Forinreality,he’s[MartinCreed’s,editor’snote]nottheEmperor,

buttheEmperor’stailor,makingworksofnothingnessandconvincingothers–curators,

directorswriters–thattheyarethefutureofart.”46Inthisarticletheusageoftheword

‘nothingness’isinterpretednegativelyasshenamesCreednotonlyastheEmperorbut

asthetailor,blamingCreedtobefoolingtheentireartworldwithinvisibleart.Theterm

‘almostnothing’ canalsobe seen in thedescription retrieved fromMoMANewYork’s

website,articleno.6: “Thecontentof thiswork isalmostnothing:agallerywithbare

walls in which the lights turn on and off in intervals of five seconds.”47Here, the

description is neutral, explaining the simplicity of the installation. The usage is also

46C.Mullins,‘Thetailorwhocreatedtheemperor’snewclothes’,TheIndependent,11Dec.2001,para.2,<https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/charlotte-mullins-the-tailor-who-created-the-emperors-new-clothes-619760.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.47’MartinCreed.WorkNo.227:TheLightsGoingOnandOff.2000’,Gallerylabel,MoMANewYork’sexhibitionOutofTime:AContemporaryView,August302006–April92007,MoMANewYork[website],accessed1Dec.2018.

20

interpretedasneutralsincetheword‘turn’isusedinexplainingtheeventthatoccursin

theinstallation.

Some of the articles discuss Creed as an artist or his practice and in these

descriptions some reoccurringwords can be found. Theword that can be seenmost

frequently is ‘wit’48, which is occurring in four of the articles. This word is often

presentedinthecontextofaquotetakenfromheadofthejury,andformerdirectorof

the Tate art museums, Sir Nicholas Serota. In a statement, the jury said: “[…] they

‘admired[Creed’s]audacity inpresentingasingleworkintheexhibitionandnotedits

strength, rigour,wit and sensitivity to the site’”.49Since theword ismost often taken

fromaquote,mostarticlespresentthisinformationasneutral.Apositivedescriptionof

theword ‘wit’ can be found in article no. 2written byMullins, thewordwit is used

positivelyasshecomparesCreedtoAlighieroBoettiandheArtePoveraartists,saying

that Creed has his wit in common with them.50The usage of the word ‘wit’ is only

interpretednegativelyinoneofthefourarticleswhereitcanbefound.Thisisinarticle

no.5,whereReynoldsstate, “They [the jury,editor’snote] insisted lastnight thatThe

lightsgoingonandoffhadqualitiesof‘strength,rigour,witandsensitivitytothesite.”51

AsReynoldsusestheword‘insisted’whenpresentingthequote,itcanbeunderstoodas

ifReynoldsdoesnotagreewiththestatement.Therefore,thewordhasbeeninterpreted

negatively.

In conclusion, the references to theartworkandartist’spractice are similar in the

wordstheychooseindescribingit.Either‘minimalistic’and/or ‘almostnothing’occur

innine articles andapositiveusageof thesedescriptionsdominate.DescribingCreed

andhispracticeaswittyand/orsensitivecanbeseeninfourofthearticles,wherehalf

of themdo itpositively.Aconclusioncannotbedrawn ineither thenewspaperorart

journalarticlesusingthesephrasesmorepositivelyornegatively.

48Definition:Thecapacityforinventivethoughtandquickunderstanding;keenintelligence.(OxfordDictionaries<www.oxforddictionaries.com>),accessed3Jan.2019.49L.Jury,‘Blinkandyou’llmissit,thelightworkthattooktheTurnerprize’,TheIndependent,10Dec.2001,para.20,<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blink-and-youll-miss-it-the-light-work-that-took-the-turner-prize-9194210.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.50Mullins,op.cit.,para.4.51Reynolds,op.cit.,para.15.

21

3.4Referencestotheevent

Flicker 6/10

Plunge 2/10

Going 2/10

Allof thearticles includesomesortofdescriptionofWorkNo.227 and theevent that

occursintheinstallation.Insixofthearticles,theword‘flicker’52isusedtodescribethe

event,whereofthreeisinthenewspaperarticlesandthreeintheartjournalarticles.An

examplesentencefromthenewspaperarticlesisReynolds’articleno.5.Ascanbeseen,

Reynolds use the more neutral term of ‘turns’ in the article title but later claims in

paragraph1,“The£20,000annualTurnerPrize,sometimesalsoknownasthePrizefor

theEmperor’sNewClothes,wasawardedlastnighttoanartistwhoexhibitedanempty

room with lights that flicker on and off every five seconds.”53Here, Reynolds use of

‘flicker’ is recognised as negative. The reason is that he does notwrite out the name

MartinCreed,butnameshim‘anartist’.Thementioningofthe‘Emperor’snewclothes’

alsobearsnegativeconnotationsandcannotbedisregardedafteritismentioned.

InAnneColin’s article,no.9,published inArtPress, theword ‘flick’ is alsoused in

describing theevent. “A flickof theswitch isenough toactivate the installationCreed

haschosenforTateBritain.”54Here,thetoneisunderstoodasneutral,vergingonbeing

positive. The reasons are that Colin chooses to name the artist by name as well ass

callingtheartworkaninstallation,whichconfirmsthestatusoftheartwork.Theword

flickishereusedasasupportingwordinordertoexplainthatthisiswhatactivatesthe

installation,notputtinganyvalueinthesentence.

Theword ‘plunge’55isused in twoof thearticles,once inanart journalarticleand

onceinanewspaperarticle.Inarticleno.6,retrievedfromTateBritain,Delaneystates,

“Martin Creed’sWorkNo. 227: The lights going on and off consists of an empty room

which is filled with light for five seconds and the plunged into darkness for five

52Definition:(oflightorasourceoflight)shineunsteadily;varyrapidlyinbrightness(ofanemotion)befeltorshownbrieflyorfaintly.(OxfordDictionaries<www.oxforddictionaries.com>),accessed3Jan.2019.53Reynolds,op.cit.,para.1.54A.Colin,loc.cit.55Definition:Jumpordivequicklyandenergetically.Fallsuddenlyanduncontrollably.(OxfordDictionaries<www.oxforddictionaries.com>),accessed3Jan.2019.

22

seconds.”56Theword‘plunge’ishereusedinapositivesense,paintingapictureforthe

readersofwhattheexperiencewaslikestandinginthegalleryspace,ratherthansimply

explain the event. In article no. 4 by Adrian Searle, the word plunge is also used.

“StandinginadarkenedbasementinKing’sCrossisratherdifferentfrombeingplunged

into darkness at Tate Britain.”57Searle is referencing to Creed’s earlier artworkWork

No.127:ThelightsgoingonandoffwhichheclaimsWorkNo.227tobeavariantof.The

usage of the word ‘plunge’ is seen as neutral as he is simply stating that the two

experiencesdifferfromeachother,notvaluingwhichonewasbetterorworse.

Surprisingly,theword‘going’couldonlybefoundintwoofthearticlesalthoughthis

isthewaytheartistchoosetoexplaintheartworkhimself,andthusthemostneutral

form.Thisindicatesthatthewritersknowinglyandprobablywillingly,usewordssuch

as‘flicker’and‘plunge’toaddvaluationsintheirdescriptionsoftheartwork.

There are three words that are the most reoccurring ones when it comes to the

describing theevent.Theword ‘flicker’ canbe found insixof thearticles,evenlysplit

betweenartjournalsandnewspaperarticles.Noneofthearticlesthatuse‘flicker’doit

positively. Theword ‘plunge’ can be seen in twoof the articles,whereas one of them

uses thewordpositively.This is theonlyarticle thathasapositivevalidation in their

referencestotheevent.Onlytwoarticlesusetheword‘going’,whichwouldbenamedas

thecorrectoneasitisthewordthatoccursintheartworktitle.Bothofthearticlesthat

usethisworddoitneutrally.Halfofthearticlesareneutralintheirusageofdescriptive

words. A conclusion cannot be drawn if either the newspaper or art journal articles

valuatethesewordsmoreorless.

3.5Referencestootherartistsandallegories

1Duchamp 3/10

2YvesKlein 2/10

3AlighieroBoetti 2/10

4OtherTurnerPrize-winnersorshortlistedartists 2/10

5TheEmperor’sNewClothes 3/10

56H.Delaney,‘WorkNo.227:Thelightsgoingonandoff’,TateBritain[website],May2010,para.1,<https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/creed-work-no-227-the-lights-going-on-and-off-t13868>,accessed1Dec.2018.57A.Searle,‘Aworkthatdidnotneedtobemade’,TheGuardian,10Dec.2001,para.4,<https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/10/turnerprize2001.20yearsoftheturnerprize>accessed1Dec.2018.

23

Comparisonsmade tootherartistsare interestinglyreoccurring in themajorityof the

articles,mostoftencomparingCreed toDadaist father,Duchampandhis readymades.

ComparisonstoYvesKlein’sTheVoidfrom1958,whereeverythinghadbeenremoved

from the gallery andAlighieroBoetti’sYearlyLamp from1966, a lamp lightingup for

elevensecondsononeunspecifieddayayear.58Thesecomparisonsarehistoriography

thatbringsCreedtothesamecategoryasDuchampandYvesKlein,twoofthegreater

and well-known artists in modern times. The reference to Duchamp, Yves Klein and

AlighieroBoettiaremostoftendoneinthenewspaperarticles.Thesecomparisonsvary

frombeingpositive,negativeandneutral.Mullin’swritesinarticleno.2:

Artistshavebeenchallengingwhatweperceivetobeartfornearlyacentury,fromMarcelDuchamp’s provocative placement of a signed urinal in an open-submission exhibition in1917,toYvesKlein’semptywhitegalleryexhibitedasTheVoidin1958.PerhapsweshouldbegratefulthatinCreed’sTurnerprizeartwork,thelightsgoonandoffeveryfiveseconds-in1966,ArtePoveraartistAlighieroBoettiunveiledhisYearlyLamp,which flickered intolifeononeunspecifieddayperyear.CreedhasalotincommonwithBoettiandhisfellowArt Povera artists: a knowing wit, an interest in common materials, a subversion ofMinimalism,aleaningtowardssubtleinterventionratherthanasensationalstatement.MyproblemwithCreed’sworkisthatBoettijustdiditbetter;Kleindiditearlier[…].59

Thesereferencesare interpretedasbothpositiveandnegativesincebothassociations

canbefound.AninterestingfindisdoneinAnderson’sarticleno.10.Thearticle,which

is based on an interview with Creed, is seemingly appreciative but the reference to

Duchamp ismade negatively. Anderson states, “A century has passed since Duchamp

declared that anything could be art, and Creed’s own particular brand feels like

conservatism masquerading as radicalism. Aesthetically, it has a pleasing of limited

neatness,butintellectually,it’sarid.”60Here,althoughcallingtheinstallationsomewhat

aesthetically pleasing, he calls the artwork intellectually arid, resulting in a negative

interpretation.

In twoof the articles, both retrieved fromnewspapers, references tootherTurner

Prizewinnersandshortlistedartistsaremade.Onereferenceismadeneutrallywhereas

one is made negatively. Here, the examples of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin are

broughtup,astheybothsubmittedartworksthatwereseenasradicalatthetime.

58Mullins,op.cit.,para.4.59ibid.,para.3-4.60H.Anderson,op.cit.,para.7.

24

Three of the articles, all retrieved from newspapers, brings up the Hans Christian

Andersen tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes. This comparison does not only imply

Creed’sworkbeingnon-existingbutalsoimpliesthatCreedisfoolingusall,makingus

believe there is something we are simply not intelligent enough to see. Interestingly

though,articleno.2istheonlyarticletousethecomparisonnegatively,andtheother

two do it either neutrally or positively. Jury states in article no. 1, “Yet for all the

detractor’sclaimthattheTurnerisaclassicexampleforheemperor’snewclothes,the

harshestcriticsofall,thepublic,arestillkeenlyinterested”.61Continuingly,Jurywrites

that1300peopleperdayhadseentheexhibitionbyDecember10th2001,exceedingthe

2000 Turner prize exhibition. 62 This statement is interpreted positively as Jury

mentionsthefactorofthepublic’sinterest.

Comparisons and references between Creed and other artists can be seen in a

majorityof thearticles.Thenewspaperarticlesdo thisdominantly,where fouroutof

fivearticlesreferencetootherartists.Thereisnomajorityofthearticlesbeingpositive

or negative. References made to the Emperor’s new clothes can only be seen in the

newspaper articles. In summary, references and comparisons toother artist ismostly

usedinthenewspaperarticles.Thiscanbeanalysedeitherastheartjournalarticleslay

more focus on the particular artist and artwork or as if the newspaper articles use

comparisonsandreferencesinordertomakethecomprehensioneasierforthereader.

3.6Referencestothegalleryspace

1Emptyspace,emptyroomorbarewalls 6/10

2Manipulationofthespace 4/10

3Higherawarenessofthespace 5/10

Insixofthearticles,theemptyspaceorbarewallsarementioned.Interestinglyenough,

thethreenewspaperarticlesthatmentionthephenomenondothisnegativelywhereas

the threeart journalarticlesdo itpositively.Oneexample fromoneof thenewspaper

articlesisfromarticleno.1whereJurystates,“Work227:Thelightsgoingonandoffwas

just that - an entirely white gallery at Tate Britain in London illuminated only by a

61L.Jury,‘Blinkandyou’llmissit,thelightworkthattooktheTurnerprize’,TheIndependent,10Dec.2001,para.20,<https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/blink-and-youll-miss-it-the-light-work-that-took-the-turner-prize-9194210.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.62ibid.

25

handfuloflightbulbsflickeringonandoff.”63Here,thesentenceisinterpretednegatively

as Jury uses the title of the artwork to explain her experience of it, not adding any

personalreflectionsorunderstandings inherdescription. Juryalsoemphasisesonthe

vastspaceratherthanthelightsfillingit.Apositiveusageoftheemptyspaceisseenin

articleno. 7, retrieved fromMoMANewYork’swebsite. It states “[…]: a gallery space

with bare walls in which the lights turn on and off in intervals of five seconds.”64It

continues,“Creedcontrolsthefundamentalconditionsofvisibilitywithinthegalleryand

redirectsourattentiontothewallsthatnormallyactassupportandbackgroundforart

objects.”65Here, MoMA’s description emphasises on the phenomena Creed creates

rather than the exhibition of an empty space. The description also entails a personal

reflection,wheretheemptyspaceisseenassomethingpositive.

That Creedmanipulates the space is stated in four of the articles, and five of the

articlesmentionahigherawarenessthathasbeenbroughttothespace.Mullinsstatein

articleno.2thatafteroneisthinkingthatthelightsarebroken,onerealisesthattheon-

going fault is in fact, the artwork. Here, even though calling the artwork an on-going

fault,Mullinsdoes sopositivelywhenshecontinues theparagraphbystating that the

installationisdesignedtomakeyouquestionthespaceandtobecomeawareofyourself

intheroom.66ThisclearlyshowsMullinspersonalreflectionsabouttheinstallationand

heracceptanceofwhatitsintentionsare.

Inthearticleswherereferencestothe‘emptyspace’or ‘barewalls’aremade,allof

those found innewspaperarticleshavebeen interpretednegativelywhereasallof the

ones found in art journal articleshavebeen interpretedpositively.A ‘manipulationof

the space’ ismentioned in four articles,whereas three of these are in the art journal

articles, all doing it positively. Five of the articles mention that the artwork ‘brings

higher awareness’ to the space. The two art journal articles that mention this

phenomenondoitpositively.Twoofthethreenewspaperarticlesthatmentionthisdoit

negatively.Inconclusion,theartjournalarticlesaremorepositiveintheirreferencingto

theemptygalleryspaceandtothevisitors’feelingofhigherawarenessoftheroom.This

can be analysed to the art journal articles either being more appreciative of the

63ibid.,para.2.64MoMANewYork[website],loc.cit.65ibid.66Mullins,op.cit.,para.5.

26

phenomenaCreedhascreatedwithhis installationornotbeingas critical to thebare

minimuminstallation.

3.7Otherobservations

Duringtheprocedureofconductingthecontentanalysis,otherobservationshavealso

beenmade. In thearticlesretrievedfromthewebsitesofTateBritainandMoMANew

York,thedescriptionofthemediumuseddiffers.TateBritainclaimsthatthemediumis

gallery lightswhereasMoMANewYorkwrites that themedium is an electrical timer.

This is interesting, as both galleries have exhibitedWorkNo.227.Onewould imagine

thattheartistissomewhatinvolvedinexplainingwhatthemediumissothequestionis

ifCreedhassaidtwodifferentmediumsorsimplynotstatingamediumatall.OnMartin

Creed’s website there is no medium stated, only the time dimensions. Regardless,

althoughtherestofMoMAandTateBritain’sdescriptionsarequitesimilar,theyareat

variancewhenitcomestothemedium.

The phrase ‘plunged into darkness’ can be found in the article retrieved from the

websiteofTateBritain,where ‘filledwithlight’ isusedandanantagonism.67Inarticle

no. 8, Denny is questioning the phenomena, disputing the extremeness of light and

darknessinthegalleryspacestating:

The pale strip lights and their surrounding halogen lights power relentlessly on and off,thoughitisnotsomuchacaseofextremesoflightanddark(“thegallerywillbefilledwithlight and then thrown intodarkness”, thepress releasedeclaresoptimistically) as the coldglowoffluorescenttubesversusthegloomofawinter’sday.68

Noneof theotherarticlesmention the littledifferenceexperiencedbetweendarkness

andlight.AcleartoneofdisappointmentcanbetracedinthestatementasDennyquotes

thepressreleasefromTateBritain.Here,theinstitutionhashypeduptheexperienceof

theartwork,failingtoprovidethespaceandmaterialsfortheinstallationtoliveuptoits

promises.This isnotmentioned ineitherTateBritainnorMoMA’sdescriptionsof the

artworkandonecouldquestion if this isdone intentionallyor if theyexperiencedthe

installationsthatmuchdifferentlythanDenny.

Another observation is the newspaper article writers negative look upon the

institution. For example,TheGuardian’s art critic Adrian Searle states in article no. 4,

“Thisisnotsomucharadicalgestureasoneofthoseartworkswhichinstitutionstendto

67Delaney,loc.cit.68Denny,op.cit.,p.43.

27

love. Rather than ‘challenging’ the institution, this piece reaffirms themuseum’s self-

imageascourtesanandmidwifetothesupposedlyradicalgesture.”69Incontradictionto

Sir Nicholas Serota’s and the Turner Prize jury’s statement where Creed’s was

celebrated as being bold and having audacity, Searle simply sees Creed’s work to

enhancethestatusofthemuseumasbeingseeminglyradical,insteadofactuallybeing

so.AnneColinmakesasimilarstatementinarticleno.9:

Creed’sartisaboutredefiningthespaceofthemuseum,andtherebyraisingthequestionofauthorialownershipandtheartisticvalueof thebanal.Awould-beradicalchallenge to theart space then. Would-be but not really. Once again, the Turner Prize has failed in itsmission.70

With thisstatement,Colin, justasSearle,expressadisappointmentoverCreed’swork

notbeingasradicalasseeminglyexpectedbutratherin-linewithwhatthegalleriesand

museums want to be associated with. The institutional context is not mentioned in

eitherarticles fromTateBritainorMoMANewYork,butcanbe found inmanyof the

other articles, both from art journals and newspapers. Both the phenomena of the

installationanditsradicalismareenhancedinthearticlesfromthegalleriescompared

toallotherarticles.

3.8ConclusionsandresultsofcontentanalysisTheaimofconductingthiscontentanalysiswastoseeifconclusionsaboutpositiveand

negative thoughts about Martin Creed’sWork No. 227 could be drawn from a small

selectionofarticlesretrievedfromnewspapersandartjournals.Here,apresentationof

thethreemostvaluablefindswillfollow.Firstly,bylookingatthearticletitles,itcanbe

seen that the newspaper articles are more critical and questioning against Creed’s

installation than the art journal articles. Secondly, the newspaper articles are more

pronetomakingreferencesandcomparisonsbetweenCreed’spracticeandotherartists.

These are more often done negatively than celebratory. And thirdly, the extreme

minimalism and simplicity of Creed’s installation ismore criticised in the newspaper

articles, emphasising on how artists prior to Creed has done versions of the same

phenomena,eitherhavingitdoneearlierorsimplybetter.Togetbacktothequestion,

arethenewspaperarticlesorartjournalarticlesmorepositiveornegativetoWorkNo.

227? This analysis will suggest that there is a majority of negative criticism in the69Searle,loc.cit.70Colin,loc.cit.

28

newspaper articles but only with a small majority.What can also be stated is that a

majorityofthearticlesusedinthisanalysishavemixedopinions,mostofthemhavinga

mixture of positive, negative and neutral validations.When looking at the table chart

(AppendixA),itcanalsobestatedthattheartjournalarticlesarelessnegativeintheir

critique asmostof the art journal articleshavebeen interpretedeither aspositiveor

neutral in the interpretations. The only article, which is interpreted negatively on all

items, is Ned Denny’s article no. 8 and on one occasion is article no. 10 interpreted

negatively. In comparison, there is not a single newspaper article that has not been

interpretednegativelyononereoccurringwordorphrase.

4AnalysisandconclusionInstitutional art theory suggests that the artworld consists of an elaborated system.

Objectsplacedwithinanartconstellationinevitablebecomeobjectsofart,notbecause

oftheiraestheticvalue,butbecauseoftheexistencewithinthesystemoftheinstitution.

According to me, this is the only validation needed for Creed’sWork No. 227. The

validationdoesnotincludepropertiesiftheartworkisaestheticallypleasingornot,its

importanceorifitwasaworthywinneroftheTurnerPrize.Thisvalidationsimplytakes

intoconsiderationifitexistsintheinstitutionandistherefore,artAsforthesimilarities

betweenWilliamAnastiandhisphotographsofthegallerywallsatDwanandWorkNo.

227,Anastialsomade theseparationof thegalleryand theartworks impossible.With

Anasti’sphotographs,thevalueofthegallerywallsincreasedtobevalidatedashighlyas

other artworks, displayed on those verywalls. As forWorkNo.227 leaving thewalls

empty,simplyfillingthemwithlightanddarkness,thesamevalidationisoccurringhere

-completelyexecutedthroughtheinstitution.

This isan interestingaspect in theattemptofprovidinganswers to the thesissub-

question:Can the ideasabout the institutioncollected from institutionalart theorybe

applied to the result of the content analysis? As the results showed in the conducted

contentanalysis,itwasfoundthatamajorityoftheartjournalarticleswerecelebratory

ofCreed’s installationoverallandmorepositivetothephenomenaoftheemptyspace

presented.Deriving fromDantoandDickie’s theories, thewebsitesofartgalleriesand

artjournalsarepartofthesystemoftheartworld.Hence,theirmoreappreciativetone

towards the institution would suggest that they do not work as separate entities, in

opposition tonewspapers.Tobeable toprovide furtheranswersandevidence to this

29

particularquestion,thecontentanalysiswouldbeinneedofanextension,reachingover

printedanddigitalmedia. Interviewswithwriters,artcriticsandmuseumstaffwould

provide a more developed picture where further deductions could be made.

Institutionalarttheorycanworkasatheoreticalbaseforconductingaresearchofthis

kind,butwouldmostprobablyneedfurthersupportindiscoursetheoryandFoucault’s

ideas on power and knowledge. As for the finds in the content analysis, further

questionscouldberaisedinregardstothereferencesandcomparisonsmadebetween

Creed andother artists. The references toDuchampandYvesKlein bear uncountable

historiographical connotationsas theyare twoextremely influential artistsof the20th

century. Inmaking thesereferences, is itatall fair tocompareCreedtoDuchampand

Klein,whorevolutionised20thcenturyart?WillCreedstillberememberedinahundred

years in the same way Duchamp is remembered today? One can only ponder the

greatnessofCreed,butinmyopinion,thesereferencesshouldnotbemadesocasually.

The relation between Creed’sWorkNo. 227 and the institution is one with many

aspects.Architecturallyspeaking,thespacebecomespartoftheinstallationandthetwo

entities can no longer be regarded separately. Although not having experienced the

installationfirst-hand,theliteratureresearchsuggeststhatanearlierinteractionwitha

white cubegallery spacewill simplify avisualisationofWorkNo.227. Thepurposeof

thisthesiswastoprovideanswerstothethesisquestion:InwhatwaysareWorkno227:

TheLightsGoingOnAndOffpresentedandcriticisedinBritishnewspapers,artjournals

and on gallery websites? This was answered through a content analysis where

reoccurring words and phrases weremapped out in ten newspapers and art journal

articles.Theusageofthesewordsandphraseswereinterpretedpositively,negativelyor

neutrally and the result was that the newspaper articles were considerably more

negativeintheirvalidationsofWorkNo.227.Thiscouldespeciallybeseeninthearticle

titles,howtheychose toreference tootherartistsandtheir lesserappreciationof the

phenomena of presenting an empty space. The art journal articles on the other hand,

had more neutral titles, not including valuations of either Creed orWork No. 227.

Referencestootherartistswerenotcommonandtheappreciationof theemptyspace

phenomenawashigh.Thesub-questionpresentedinthisthesisis:Cantheideasabout

the institution collected from institutional art theory be applied to the result of the

content analysis?As this thesis suggests, the institutionworks as a system, each part

controlledanddependingonit.Withinthissystem,theartwork,theartistandthevisitor

30

plays importantparts andwouldnot be functioning separated fromone another. The

mediacometoplaythepartofadvertisement,meaningthattheinstitutionisverymuch

dependentonwhatiswritteninnewspapersandperiodicals.Whatthecontentanalysis

suggests, in the case studyofMartinCreed’sWorkNo.227, is thatnewspaper articles

present more negative critique against the artwork and institution whereas the art

journalarticlespresentamoreappreciativeandpositivecritique.Thethesissuggestsa

furtherandmoredevelopedresearchinordertoprovidemoreevidenceonthismatter,

reachingbeyondastrictlyintertextualcontentanalysis.Foucault’s ideasonpowerand

knowledgewouldmostprobablyservetheanalysisprofitably.

31

6References

6.1PrintedreferencesAdler,P.&Slyce,J.,ContemporaryArtintheUnitedKingdom-Artworld5,BlackdogPress,

London,2014.

Anderson,H.,‘Geniusorjoke?What’sthepointoftheartistMartinCreed',Prospect,no.

216,2014,pp.50-54.

Bishop,C.,InstallationArt:ACriticalHistory,Tate,London,2010.

Colin,A.,‘TurnerPrize2001:TateBritain’,tr.Penwarden,C.,ArtPress,no277,2002,pp.

75-76.

Danto,A.,‘TheArtworld’,TheJournalofPhilosophy,vol.61,no.19,1964,pp.571-584.

Denny,N.,‘Tatethat’,TheStatesman,vol.130,no.4565,2001,pp.42-43.

Dickie,G., ‘Defining art’,AmericanPhilosophicalQuarterly, vol. 6, no. 3, 1969, pp. 253-

256.

Dickie,G.,‘Whatisart?AnInstitutionalAnalysis’,inP.Alpersoned.,ThePhilosophyofthe

VisualArts,OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,1992,pp.434-444.

Jones, A., ’”Presence” in absentia: Experiencing Performance as Documentation’, Art

Journal,vol.56,no.4,1997,pp.11-18.

O’Doherty,B., Insidethewhitecube:TheIdeologyoftheGallerySpace,TheLapisPress,

SantaMonica,SanFrancisco,1986.

Rose,G.,VisualMethodologies,4thedn,SAGEPublicationsLtd,California,2016.

Rugoff,R.,Morley,P.&Bailey,B.,MartinCreed:What'sthePointofit?,HaywardGallery

Publishing,London,2014.

6.2Internetsources

Anon., ‘MartinCreed.WorkNo.227:TheLightsGoingOnandOff.2000’,Gallery label,

MoMANewYork’sexhibitionOutofTime:AContemporaryView,August302006–April9

2007,MoMANewYork[website],<https://www.moma.org/collection/works/101549>,

accessed1Dec.2018.

Clark,N., ’TateacquiresMartinCreed’scontroversialTurnerPrize-winningpieceWork

No 227, The Independent, 2 Sep. 2013, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-

entertainment/art/tate-acquires-martin-creeds-controversial-turner-prize-winning-

piece-work-no-227-8795204.html,accessed3Jan.2019.

32

Delaney, H., ‘Work No. 227: The lights going on and off’, Tate Britain [website], May

2010, <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/creed-work-no-227-the-lights-going-on-

and-off-t13868>,accessed1Dec.2018.

Jury, L., ‘Blink and you’ll miss it, the light work that took the Turner prize’, The

Independent, 10 Dec. 2001, <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-

news/blink-and-youll-miss-it-the-light-work-that-took-the-turner-prize-

9194210.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.

Mcglown, M., ‘Protester eggs Turner light show’, Evening Standard, 12 Dec. 2001.

<https://www.standard.co.uk/news/protester-eggs-turner-light-show-6335112.html>,

accessed3Jan.2019.

Mullins,C.,‘Thetailorwhocreatedtheemperor’snewclothes’,TheIndependent,11Dec.

2001, <https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/charlotte-mullins-the-

tailor-who-created-the-emperors-new-clothes-619760.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.

Reynolds,N.,‘TurnerPrizewonbymanwhoturnslightsoff’,TheTelegraph,10Dec.

2001,<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1364860/Turner-Prize-won-by-

man-who-turns-lights-off.html>,accessed10Dec.2018.

Searle,A.,‘Aworkthatdidnotneedtobemade’,TheGuardian,10Dec.2001,

<https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/10/turnerprize2001.20yearsoftheturne

rprize>accessed1Dec.2018.

Searle,A.,‘Easydoesit’,TheGuardian,11Dec.2001,

<https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2001/dec/11/20yearsoftheturnerprize.

turnerprize>,accessed1Dec.2018.

6.3Listoffigures

Figure 1: Martin Creed, Work No. 227: The lights going on and off, 2000, light

installation, 5 seconds on/ 5 seconds off, MoMA, New York, photographer unknown,

accessedfromhttp://martincreed.com.

Figure2:MartinCreed,WorkNo.127:Thelightsgoingonandoff,1995,lightinstallation,

30secondson/30secondsoff,dimensionsvariable,photographerunknown,accessed

fromhttp://martincreed.com.

Figure3:MartinCreed,WorkNo.254:Thelightsinabuildinggoingonandoff,2000,light

installation, 1 second on/ 1 second off, Camden Arts Centre, London, photographer

unknown,accessedfromhttp://martincreed.com.

33

7AppendixAAtablechart ispresented thatstate thereoccurringwordsandphrases thathasbeen

usedinthecontentanalysis.Insidethecolumns,andXhasbeenputwherethewordor

phraseoccursandtheyhavebeenvaluediftheyarewritteninaneutral(neu.),negative

(neg.)orpositive(pos.)context.Thearticleshavebeennumberedtofitthecolumns.

1. L.Jury,‘Blinkandyou’llmissit’,TheIndependent,10Dec.2001.

2. C.Mullins, ‘Thetailorwhocreatedtheemperor’snewclothes’,TheIndependent,

11Dec.2001.

3. A.Searle,‘Easydoesit’,TheGuardian,11Dec.2001.

4. A.Searle,‘Aworkthatdidnotneedtobemade’,TheGuardian,10Dec.2001.

5. N.Reynolds, ‘TurnerPrizewonbymanwho turns lightsoff’,TheTelegraph,10

Dec.2001.

6. H.Delaney, ‘WorkNo. 227:The lights going on andoff’,TateBritain [website],

2010.

7. ‘MartinCreed.WorkNo.227.TheLightsGoingOnAndOff.2000’,Gallery label,

MoMANewYork’sexhibitionOutofTime:AContemporaryView,August302006–

April92007,MoMANewYork[website],writerunknown.

8. N.Denny,‘Tatethat’,NewStatesman,vol.130,no.4565,2001.

9. A.Colin,‘TurnerPrize2001:TateBritain’,ArtPressno27775-6,2002.

10. H. Anderson, ‘Genius or joke? What’s the point of the artist Martin Creed’,

Prospect,no.216,2014.

34