The Turner Prize lives the myth of constant renewal

Let’s imagine for a minute that the Turner Prize is cancelled next year. Would anyone care? A few members of the artistic elite and a handful of artists perhaps, but beyond that? I don’t think they would. There are plenty of other valuable art prizes out there, after all. And no one has really taken it seriously for a while now. Each year the same, tired debates come out about how ‘art can be whatever it wants to be’, which is true, but also happens to be the least controversial thing you can say.

So it’s off. Cancelled. No more queues of people waiting to see a light switch turn on and off. No more unmade beds. And no more sullying Turner’s name for the sake of a prize which once awarded first spot to a man dressed as a bear.

Would it matter? Well that very much depends what you think a prize is for.