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With Bear and 'Britain,' Wallinger Wins Turner

by Zoe Strimpel
Tue, 4 Dec 2007 at 1:18 PM

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The winner of Britain's foremost contemporary art accolade, the Turner Prize, was announced last night by the movie star Dennis Hopper at the Tate Liverpool. Moving the prize from London to Liverpool was a gesture toward that city's role as European Capital of Culture in 2008.

Mark Wallinger, 48, won with "State Britain," his meticulous, £90,000 re-creation of anti-war protester Brian Haw's sprawling Parliament Square installation of posters, placards and flags, which has been in place since 2001.

Mr. Wallinger's re-creation has been at Tate Britain in London, and was praised by the judges for its "immediacy, visceral intensity and historic importance," and for combining "a bold political statement with art's ability to articulate fundamental human truths." It is indeed a startling work, and even if you disagree with its inspiration, it demands contemplation.

But there has been some confusion today over the winning piece. The Times printed a Page 3 story under the headline: "Bearly believable? This is Turner prizewinner."

What the paper was referring to was "Sleeper," the 154-minute video of a person walking aimlessly around a German gallery in a bear costume. Mr. Wallinger had entered the prize with this piece, but officially won for "State Britain."

Mr. Wallinger, who lost out on the prize to Damien Hirst 12 years ago when he was first nominated, was the favorite to win this time. But interest in the Turner seemed less intense than in previous years, when the display and prize have been subject to constant perusal by London audiences and opinion-makers. Of course, the impression that interest has been muted this year could just be the narcissistic view of someone used to a place as spoiled for culture as London. After all, last month, when the exhibit went up in Liverpool, that city's newspaper reported that the museum's elevators broke through overuse. If that's not robust interest in the Turner Prize, what is?

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