Belfast-based art collective wins Turner Prize

December 2, 2021 11:58 AM

Meet the 2021 Turner Prize-winning Array Collective (via The Guardian). One banner in the síbín reads: “Prepared for peas, ready for sausage war” – a reference to perhaps the most notorious of Belfast’s paramilitary murals which, accompanied by a sinister image of armed, hooded men, reads: “Prepared for peace, ready for war.” Array’s rewording is a dig at the “sausage war” and the DUP’s concern earlier this year that British bangers would struggle to find their way to Northern Ireland owing to Brexit. It’s a typical move from Array – to disarm, in all senses, the violent symbols of the region’s past. “Sometimes the culture here just hands you a joke on a plate,” says Campbell.
posted by Bella Donna (8 comments total)

Someone I know was involved in one of the other shortlisted collectives, so not sure whether I agree with the choice. But, the Guardian review by its art critic was incredibly dismissive about whether it was good/quality art, but it's kind of typical for the Turner prize to be "interesting", and I think the winner is interesting and honestly, how is it not art? It is IMO better than some Tracey Emin pieces and worse than others, and she's in the contemporary British canon.
posted by plonkee at 12:35 PM on December 2, 2021 [2 favorites]

I know pretty much nothing about art. That guardian review is very dismissive but I am a civilian who feels pretty dubious about the idea of “aesthetic achievement” as being the measure of successful art. It all seems pretty subjective to me. It’s my lack of knowledge that probably made me want to do this post, because art collectives as a concept is new to me and so cool. Probably an ancient and historical concept but I still think it’s groovy.
posted by Bella Donna at 1:05 PM on December 2, 2021 [1 favorite]

But, the Guardian review by its art critic was incredibly dismissive about whether it was good/quality art

He also has random digs at things that are "warm and fluffy", and has a little pop at trans people (gosh, really, in the Guardian?) by making special mention of the "alternative awards ceremony for divas of all genders". He appears to have zero knowledge of Northern Ireland and comes across (again, surely not, in the Guardian?) as a bit of a wanker.

Things were, of course, much better when he was younger, when the Turner Prize was only ever displayed and awarded in London, and when most of the winners were white guys, but above all when people weren't so troublesome, diverse and confusing to him. What a dinosaur.
posted by indemandgirl at 1:10 PM on December 2, 2021 [14 favorites]

Thank you, indemandgirl, that was bracing!
posted by Bella Donna at 1:17 PM on December 2, 2021

The Guardian house critic is Jonathan Jones. For calling him “a bit of a wanker”, I hereby award indemandgirl the Ten Cold Hot Dogs Understatement of the Year Award 🥇 😊

He is, of course, a gibbering tosspot of the highest order. Has been for quite some time.

(Your occasional reminder to insert “dump” ahead of “the” into any Guardian UK links e.g. https://www.dumptheguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/01/our-critic-pub-turner-prize-served-pints-array-northern-ireland to muck up their analytics while still being able to share the content. No support for transphobes.)
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 1:57 PM on December 2, 2021 [8 favorites]

It’s a typical move from Array – to disarm, in all senses, the violent symbols of the region’s past.

There's a lot going on there that international viewers may not catch - for example the picture of the mirror in the rubbish review that plonkee linked to that says "Stouts Out". This is a reference to the infamous "Touts Out" graffiti found in Republican areas during the Troubles, meaning "if you talk to the police/army about us, we'll shoot you or force you to leave the country". They've reframed it (literally!) as a reference to pints of Guinness, coping with the threat of violence through absurdity.
posted by kersplunk at 4:27 PM on December 2, 2021 [5 favorites]

Relatedly: Cooking Sections, who were nominees for the Turner Prize this year, have announced that
“ In support of ongoing liberation struggles across the globe, we will be awarding the £10,000 of our Turner Prize nomination to Sakiya, an artist collective in Palestine working to revitalise and reimagine disappearing agricultural traditions through contemporary artistic and ecological practices.”
Full statement here.
posted by Joeruckus at 12:36 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]

Yeah, Jones is really a dinosaur. A good rule of thumb is to just read the opposite of what he's saying. He stopped being a cultural critic of any note a few years ago, and now he's just one of those people who has opinions for money every week. Sadly, he's so far down the list of 'things that need to be fixed' at the Guardian that I've given up reading the Guardian for it's art coverage.
posted by The River Ivel at 1:29 AM on December 3, 2021 [2 favorites]