'Osama art' up for Turner Prize
2004-05-19 10:58
London - Two artists who created a virtual replica of Osama bin Laden's house have been shortlisted for this year's £40 000 Turner Prize.
Ben Langlands, 48, and Nikki Bell, 44, who work together, join three other artists shortlisted for Britain's most prestigious art prize.
Langlands and Bell, who are both from London, visited Afghanistan in 2002 before they created an interactive digital model of the al-Qaeda leader's "last official address", which allows visitors to navigate the deserted, crumbling bunker in virtual space.
Their piece, The House of Osama bin Laden, which features photographs, digital animation and video, was first shown at London's Imperial War Museum.
Other artists on the shortlist include Jeremy Deller, 38, also from London, who became well known for his installation titled Acid Brass, where a brass band played acid house anthems in what he called a "potent form of resistance to Margaret Thatcher's government".
He has been nominated for Memory Bucket, an installation which explores Texas through various encounters, from meeting a survivor of the Waco siege to experiencing three million bats emerging from a cage at sunset.
Also on the list is Kutlug Ataman, 41, best known for his video documentaries, including one on the life of a transsexual Turkish prostitute, Never My Soul 2002, and The Four Seasons Of Veronica Read, an erotic look at a female horticulturist's obsession with her amaryllis flowers.
Yinka Shonibare, 42, has been shortlisted for his sculptural installations that use African fabric "to subvert conventional readings of cultural identity".
His work includes headless figures in African dress sitting at a table or having sex.
Nicholas Serota, director of London's Tate gallery and chairman of the Turner Prize jury, said that the shortlisted artists "represent a very interesting cross-section of art that is being made in Britain today".
The total prize money this year has been increased from £20 000 in previous years thanks to the sponsorship of a drinks company.
The Turner Prize rewards an artist aged under 50 for an outstanding exhibition of work over the 12 months before 9 May. To be eligible, the artist must either be working in the United Kingdom or British-born.
On the net:
www.tate.org.uk
- AP