Abu Dhabi Art: Martin Creed questions the nature of art

Martin Creed during his talk at Abu Dhabi Art Artist Talk: What is Art? Courtesy of The Cool Box and Abu Dhabi Art

What is art? Even Martin Creed, winner of the 2001 Turner Prize, doesn't quite know. In a talk titled, What is Art? that took place on the first public day at Abu Dhabi Art, the artist and musician took to the auditorium stage holding a guitar, with his harmonica swinging from his neck. A woman stood behind him, repeating his physical movements in an unexpected parody. Creed, who has made waves in the past for saying, "I don't know what art is," and "I wouldn't call myself an artist," admitted to having grappled with the talk's title: "I didn't want to have a title because I don't think it's good to say what you're going to do, so I don't really like titles." This aversion to definitions has become so extreme that the artist opts to number rather than title his works. They are all classified on his website in crisp, identically proportioned thumbnails like rare butterflies pinned to a board.

In his lulling Scottish accent, Creed went on to suggest, “Art is anything that anyone thinks is art.” This open-ended admission clearly amused the rows of teenage students from Raffles Academy kicking their feet up in the balcony. In school and in the art world alike, definitions often denote superiority, and it is rare for someone—let alone a leading expert— to admit that they don’t know or aren’t quite sure of something. Thought, according to Creed is what often controls art.

From the time he was in art school studying painting, Creed rebelled against the notion of thought, attempting to "start out from zero without knowing beforehand what a work would be" or how it would develop" (for an example of this technique, Creed showed a slide of No. 263, an installation concerning a protrusion from a blank white wall).

In later years, he’s set out to create a visual work that is like a piece of music in the immersive experience it provokes in the audience. To illustrate the parallels between art and music, the artist performed a series of original songs including one with the telling lyrics: “I was thinking, and then I wasn’t thinking, and then I was thinking.”

Although the unrestricted nature of the talk was refreshing, it was lacking that the artist elected not to express a more specific vision concerning the role of the artist in society, and the function of art in general.

To view Martin Creed's work visit: http://www.martincreed.com

This blog is co-posted on Danna Writes