Tonight, an actual painter, an artist in the traditional sense of the word, won the Turner Prize. Tomma Abts became only the third painter and the first woman to claim the £25,000. My recent visit to the Tate Britain involved shuffling quite quickly through Abts' exhibition. The fact that her squiggly lines held about as much appeal as gouging my eyes out with vinegar-dripping finger tips did might explain why I dismissed her efforts.

"Often I start off with something, I don't really know what it might be ... it tells you afterwards what it is" says Rebecca Warren, one of the four Turner prize nominees, whose work is on display in the Tate Britain. This is certainly the idea you get when walking around looking at these exhibitions. Warren's sculptures look like they were made during sos by junior infants.

One of the four exhibitors did catch my eye because it appealed to my unrefined, simplistic ways of breaking art down into something meaningful. The creator, Phil Collins, made a documentary about how a TV camera can be used as a tool for manipulation and attraction. In particular, he interviewed "exploited" survivors of Reality TV shows at a press conference where the media themselves were allowed to be present, all the while having his own cameras film this stunt. It's like the first Fabergé egg; an egg with an egg.

Collins even has a working office in the Tate Britain as part of his exhibition where visitors can peer in and watch his team as they conduct their research into the unscrupulous actions of Reality TV makers.

tags:turner prize

Published by Colm.