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Creed,thecriticismsandinstitutionalcontextAcontentanalysisofcritiquesonMartinCreed’sWorkNo.227:Thelights
goingonandoff
AmandaJohansson
DivisionforArtHistoryandVisualStudies
DepartmentofArtsandCulturalSciences
LundUniversity
KOVK03,15ECTS.B.Acourse,autumnsemester2018
Supervisor:MaxLiljefors
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
Page 32
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.
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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.