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When I first had the opportunity to visit the Tate, I thought I was in for a treat. Wasn't.
I assume the Turner Prize is named -- and if so, slanderously -- for THE Turner, and not Ted or some other T guy.
But the whole point of the show is to be outrageous. That's its raison d'etre. Just look at the publicity it generates. They don't have to pay a dime in advertising, the detractors do all of it for them. And they know that. It's part of the show. Of course it's a farce -- that's the point. That's the fun they're having. Howard Stern is a farce, too, and he revels in it. No one is a shock jock or a shock artist unless they're outrageous, so to label them so is a non-sequitur. It's only a "Congratulations!".
The people who need their heads examined are the ones throwing 20,000 pounds Sterling down the toilet. But hey, people with money throw it away on entertainment all the time.
When I'm sorting out flesh-tone temperatures on a current project, or analyzing a drawing failure, the Tate and the Turner Prize don't even exist for me. Later, maybe, for comic relief. But not for instruction, certainly, and not for derision. Why bother?
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