Turnip Prize
Encyclopedia
The Turnip Prize is a spoof UK award that satirises the Tate Gallery
's Turner Prize
by rewarding deliberately bad modern art. It was started mainly as a joke in 1999, but has gained national media attention and inspired other similar prizes. Credit is given for entries that have bad puns as titles, display 'lack of effort' and pass the crucial test of 'is it shit?'; conversely, entries which show 'too much effort' or are 'not shit enough' are disqualified. The first prize is a turnip nailed to a block of wood.
, Somerset
. Its instigation was prompted by the exhibition of Tracey Emin
's My Bed
in the Turner Prize
that year. It is organised by Trevor Prideaux. It was announced as, "The Turnip Prize is a crap art competition ... You can enter anything you like, but it must be rubbish." The competition was based on the notion, "We know it's rubbish, but is it art?" and competitors submitted entries of ridiculous objects posing as contemporary art objects, mostly made from junk with titles that are spoofs or puns. The prize is a turnip impaled on a rusty six-inch nail.
In May 2000, the nominees appeared on the BBC
TV Esther Rantzen
show. The show has been featured regularly by national and even international media.
In 2003, the winner was James Timms with Take a Leaf out of My Chook, a raw chicken stuffed with leaves.
In 2005, Ian Osenthroat, a 69-year-old former photocopier salesman, won with Birds Flew, a bird's nest with a flu remedy box. He commented, "I have entered this most coveted art award on several occasions and I really feel that the lack of effort this year has really paid off."
The winner in 2006 was Ian Lewis with Torn Beef, an empty corned beef can. He said, "The work took no time at all to create." Trevor Prideaux commented, "I believe that over the last seven years the bad artists of Wedmore and surrounding areas have created far better works than Nicholas Serota
and The Tate Britain
Gallery could ever wish to exhibit." Also in 2006, the BBC
's Chief Somerset Correspondent, Clinton Rogers
, was immortalised as Clint on a Row of Jars.
In 2007, the competition gained even more publicity after the entry of a piece of artwork with the title By the Banksea. The painting bears a striking resemblance to the work of the famous Bristol graffiti artist Banksy
and its origins are a closely guarded secret. By the Banksea portrays a seaside Aunt Sally in the form of a stencil of the Mona Lisa, but in true Banksy-style, the Mona Lisa is holding a rocket launcher, firing a turnip over the wreckage of a seaside pier and an emergency exit sign. Competition organiser Trevor Prideaux said: "It does seem to be in Banksy's style. But someone has thought too much about this one and tried too hard. So for that reason it's not likely to win." The piece was duly disqualified for "too much effort and not shit enough." The 2007 competition was won by Bracey Vermin with Tea P, used tea bags in the shape of a P.
The entries for 2010 included "Ivor Crush"'s clothes hanger linked the letter U, entitled "Hung up on You", and an entry by Banksy, which focuses on the recent student protests.
Entrires for 2011 included a piece of cheese carved into the letter E, entitled CheeseE, a fish full of dollars, an Action Man toy - called First Class Mail - with a carefully placed stamp and a coloured rock called Half a Stone Lighter.
tabloid newspaper featured its own Turnip Prize.
In 2002 "The Turnip Award" was opened annually for students at Edinburgh College of Art
to "carve or design something out of the humble vegetable". The 2005 prize was a mountain bike. In 2005 a Turnip Prize was staged at St Paul's Gallery in Tower Hamlets
, London for local residents.
The term was previously used in 1998 by YBA Jake Chapman of the Chapman Brothers (2003 Turner Prize nominees): "We thought if we couldn't get the Turner Prize we should get the Turnip Prize."
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
's Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
by rewarding deliberately bad modern art. It was started mainly as a joke in 1999, but has gained national media attention and inspired other similar prizes. Credit is given for entries that have bad puns as titles, display 'lack of effort' and pass the crucial test of 'is it shit?'; conversely, entries which show 'too much effort' or are 'not shit enough' are disqualified. The first prize is a turnip nailed to a block of wood.
History
It was conceived in 1999 by the management and regulars of The George Hotel (subsequently the New Inn), WedmoreWedmore
Wedmore is a village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It is situated on raised ground, in the Somerset Levels between the River Axe and River Brue, often called the Isle of Wedmore. It forms part of Sedgemoor district...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. Its instigation was prompted by the exhibition of Tracey Emin
Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
's My Bed
My Bed
My Bed is a work by the British artist Tracey Emin. First created in 1998, it was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, and gained much media attention...
in the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
that year. It is organised by Trevor Prideaux. It was announced as, "The Turnip Prize is a crap art competition ... You can enter anything you like, but it must be rubbish." The competition was based on the notion, "We know it's rubbish, but is it art?" and competitors submitted entries of ridiculous objects posing as contemporary art objects, mostly made from junk with titles that are spoofs or puns. The prize is a turnip impaled on a rusty six-inch nail.
In May 2000, the nominees appeared on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV Esther Rantzen
Esther Rantzen
Esther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
show. The show has been featured regularly by national and even international media.
In 2003, the winner was James Timms with Take a Leaf out of My Chook, a raw chicken stuffed with leaves.
In 2005, Ian Osenthroat, a 69-year-old former photocopier salesman, won with Birds Flew, a bird's nest with a flu remedy box. He commented, "I have entered this most coveted art award on several occasions and I really feel that the lack of effort this year has really paid off."
The winner in 2006 was Ian Lewis with Torn Beef, an empty corned beef can. He said, "The work took no time at all to create." Trevor Prideaux commented, "I believe that over the last seven years the bad artists of Wedmore and surrounding areas have created far better works than Nicholas Serota
Nicholas Serota
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota is a British art curator. Serota was director of the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, before becoming director of the Tate, the United Kingdom's national gallery of modern and British art in 1988. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999. He...
and The Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
Gallery could ever wish to exhibit." Also in 2006, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Chief Somerset Correspondent, Clinton Rogers
Clinton Rogers
Clinton Rogers is a British television news reporter.He works for the BBC and files reports for their Points West and Spotlight local news bulletins.He became a journalist at the age of 16, working radio and newspapers, before transferring to television....
, was immortalised as Clint on a Row of Jars.
In 2007, the competition gained even more publicity after the entry of a piece of artwork with the title By the Banksea. The painting bears a striking resemblance to the work of the famous Bristol graffiti artist Banksy
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter.His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique...
and its origins are a closely guarded secret. By the Banksea portrays a seaside Aunt Sally in the form of a stencil of the Mona Lisa, but in true Banksy-style, the Mona Lisa is holding a rocket launcher, firing a turnip over the wreckage of a seaside pier and an emergency exit sign. Competition organiser Trevor Prideaux said: "It does seem to be in Banksy's style. But someone has thought too much about this one and tried too hard. So for that reason it's not likely to win." The piece was duly disqualified for "too much effort and not shit enough." The 2007 competition was won by Bracey Vermin with Tea P, used tea bags in the shape of a P.
The entries for 2010 included "Ivor Crush"'s clothes hanger linked the letter U, entitled "Hung up on You", and an entry by Banksy, which focuses on the recent student protests.
Entrires for 2011 included a piece of cheese carved into the letter E, entitled CheeseE, a fish full of dollars, an Action Man toy - called First Class Mail - with a carefully placed stamp and a coloured rock called Half a Stone Lighter.
Winners and shortlisted artists
This list is incomplete- 1999 - David Stone (Baker), winner - Alfred The Grate (two burned rolls on a fire grate)
- David Gannon (British Airways worker) - Sharp Infested Waters (a jar of water filled with needles, razors and knives)
- Neil Ellis - Soiled Serviette (a comment on a crumpled piece of paper)
- Half Cut (a saw and a piece of wood cut halfway through with a bottle of beer nearby)
- Maureen Hodge (Pub Landlady) - Laundry Day Tracey (a neat pile of clean sheets)
- 2000 - Jacqui Redman (Care Worker, age 30), winner - Minstrel Cycle (a bicycle constructed of sweets, cocktail sticks and Tampons)
- Jenny Vining (Midwife, age 21+) - Cereal Killer (cereal packets with bullet holes in them)
- Kerry Bobbett (Trainee Graphic Designer, age 19) - Wind In The Willows (a tin of beans in a Wicker basket)
- Sue Smith (age 50+) - Surf In The Net (a box of washing powder in a net)
- 2001/2 - Cancelled due to an outbreak of Root-in-Mouth.
- 2003 - James Timms (long-distance unicyclist, age 26), winner - Take a Leaf out of my Chook (A raw chicken stuffed with leaves)
- Bitter and Twisted (a piece of grapefruit peel)
- Jonny Wilkinson (a condom and a razor blade)
- What a Waste (a sculpture of plumbing pipe)
- 2005 - Ian Osenthroat (former photocopier salesman, age 69), winner - Birds Flew (An empty birds' nest with a box of flu remedy)
- 2006 - Ian Lewis, winner - Torn Beef (empty corned beef can)
- Ham Sweet Ham (disqualified) (a framed picture containing two slices of ham and a boiled sweet)
- Beyond the Pale
- Captain's Log
- Clinton RogersClinton RogersClinton Rogers is a British television news reporter.He works for the BBC and files reports for their Points West and Spotlight local news bulletins.He became a journalist at the age of 16, working radio and newspapers, before transferring to television....
(BBC's Chief Somerset Correspondent) - Clint on a Row of Jars - Cracked Pot (a broken plant pot)
- Medium Steak
- The Second Coming
- 2007 - Bracey Vermin - Tea P (Used tea bags in the shape of a P), Winner.
- Mary Leftley - Thyme Flies (Dead flies in a hexagonal jar with Thyme), Very highly commended.
- Mr Fezzy Wig - Pair o' dice Lost (A map of Scotland with dice), Very highly commended.
- John Squires - Mints Meet (A mincemeat jar containing a polo mint and an extra strong mint), Very highly commended.
- Isaac Hasumoff - Fly in Saucer (A saucer with a dead fly), 2007 Special Award. Judges considered that this was an exceptional lack of effort. However, the fly can not be considered rubbish (it is not recyclable unless ingested by a spider).
Other competitions
Many independent "Turnip Prize" competitions are now held around the world, with differing rules made up by those who are running the competitions. Competitions generally aspire to concept, "We know it's rubbish, but is it art?" and competitors submit entries made from junk with titles that are nonsensical or puns. Marks are awarded for amusement and lack of effort, and competitors are frequently disqualified for applying too much effort. In 2001, The SunThe Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
tabloid newspaper featured its own Turnip Prize.
In 2002 "The Turnip Award" was opened annually for students at Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art is an art school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design disciplines for over two thousand students....
to "carve or design something out of the humble vegetable". The 2005 prize was a mountain bike. In 2005 a Turnip Prize was staged at St Paul's Gallery in Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
, London for local residents.
The term was previously used in 1998 by YBA Jake Chapman of the Chapman Brothers (2003 Turner Prize nominees): "We thought if we couldn't get the Turner Prize we should get the Turnip Prize."
See also
- Turner Prize#Alternative prizes
- List of prizes, medals, and awards
- Stuckist demonstrationsStuckist demonstrationsStuckist demonstrations since 2000 have been a key part of the Stuckist art group's activities and have succeeded in giving them a high profile both in Britain and abroad...