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Plans by a Turner Prize-nominated artist to drop a piano off an iconic east London tower block have been thwarted by residents, who were concerned over the “danger and utter stupidity” of the stunt. Catherine Yass had been scheduled to hurl the instrument off the top of the 26-storey Balfron Tower in Poplar – but a petition signed by 254 locals forced organisers to change their tune. Retired nurse Jean Brown, 66, of nearby Burcham Street, was concerned about the “danger and utter stupidity”, and amazed the idea had even been suggested. “People seem to have finally come to their...

Sprinters will be paid £10 per hour to run through the halls of one of the UKs most famous art galleries. Turner Prize-winner Martin Creed has the revealed the runners as his new work of art 'Work No. 850' at Tate Britain. The show will see a series of semi-pro athletes sprinting through a 86 metre long gallery every 30 seconds for eight hours per day for the next four months. Creed, 39, who won the 2001 Turner Prize for a piece called The Lights Going On And Off, said: “I like running. I like seeing people run and I...

Iraq protest camp shortlisted for Turner Prize By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent  Last Updated: 3:41pm BST 08/05/2007     Politics not paint are set to dominate this year's Turner Prize after the announcement today of a four-strong shortlist of artists more exercised by issues such as the Iraq war, terrorism and religious strife than images of beauty.   Video: Mark Wallinger with his replica of Brian Haw's camp Leading the way is Mark Wallinger, a veteran of the Sensation generation of British artists. He has been shortlisted for his controversial £90,000 work, State Britain, in which he meticulously recreated Brian...

It makes me sad to remember how thrilled I was on 15 April 2005, the day I received a letter from Stephen Deuchar, director of Tate Britain, asking me to serve as a juror for the 2006 Turner Prize. I had to read it a dozen times before I could believe it and then I was so pathetically proud I told everyone I knew, even the windowcleaner. Most of my friends laughed their heads off but none of them actually said: 'Don't do it.' ...... On the other hand, I did once see Keanu Reeves in Vyner Street admiring an...

A unique account of what it’s like to sit on the UK’s most influential art jury And the winner is: Simon Starling’s Shedboatshed (mobile architecture No.2), 2005 When, in April 2004, I got the letter from Tate Britain director Stephen Deuchar asking me to be on the jury of the the 2005 Turner Prize, “poisoned chalice” was the first phrase that sprang to mind. While of course it was flattering to be asked to judge the UK’s most high-profile art prize, I have always been ambivalent about art awards in general and the Turner in particular. It often seems that...

LONDON - A porcelain urinal is the most influential work of modern art, according to a survey released Wednesday. The poll of 500 arts figures ranked French surrealist Marcel Duchamp's 1917 piece "Fountain" — an ordinary white, porcelain urinal — more influential than Pablo Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," Andy Warhol's screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and "Guernica," Picasso's searing depiction of the devastation of war. Duchamp pioneered the use of everyday objects as art, an aesthetic that questioned the nature of art itself. Art expert Simon Wilson said the choice of Duchamp's urinal "comes as a bit of a shock."...

Politics in and dirty beds out for TurnerBy Nigel Reynolds(Filed: 20/10/2004)The contestants for this year's Turner Prize unveiled their wares at Tate Britain yesterday. You could have heard a pin drop. There are not a lot of laughs to be had in the 2004 version of "The Emperor's New Clothes" prize.Politics are in. Dirty beds, light switches, pornographic pots and dollops of elephant dung are out. One of Jeremy Deller's exhibits The History of the World 1997-2001. He is favorite to win the prize "Yes, it is quite serious this year," confessed Stephen Deuchar, the director of Tate Britain....