Culture

But Is It Art: Someone Get the Lights

by Jordan Yerman | September 13, 2007 at 07:17 am

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The walls are bare, the gallery is empty. But the lights switch on, and within five seconds, back off. Martin Creed's signature work is ready for opening night.

The Scottish artist's creation - which goes on display in the Mills Gallery at the Boston Center for the Arts starting tomorrow - is called "Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off," and the title describes exactly what happens.

Every five seconds, the gallery's 67 track lights illuminate the white walls and then flick off, controlled by a laptop in a back room. The piece won Creed, now 38, the prestigious Turner Prize from London's Tate Britain, the national gallery of British art, in 2001, and it subsequently earned a spot in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.

Here in Canuckistan, we have a campaign called "Flick Off", to save electricity. It implies, though, that you won't flick back on again unless you need the lights to actually see something.

"The lights are extinguishing onward and offward like a discoteque, yeah." German tourist, London Kills Me (Hanif Kureshi).

HEre's n excerpt from BBC's 2001 article covering Creed's Turner Prize win:

Pop
icon Madonna has presented the Turner Prize to minimalist artist Martin
Creed for his work entitled The Lights Going On and Off.

Creed, 33, collected £20,000 for his controversial installation,
which centres around an empty gallery with a pair of flashing
lights.