Turner Prize 2013

In this years Turner Prize, which is being held in Northern Ireland at Ebrington in Derry-Londonderry, David Shrigley,one of the nominees for this years Turner Prize shows various examples of humour in his sculpture and illustrations.

The Turner Prize is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. The nominees for this years Turner Prize are David Shrigley, Laure Prouvost ,Tino Sehgal and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. 

I will be focusing on David Shrigley's work as it relates to the use of humour and the everyday.

David Shrigley is a British visual artist. He was nominated for his "Brain Activity" exhibition where he translated his thoughts of  everyday problems and solutions through the use of black humour.

One example of humour being used as a mechanism in his work is I'm Dead (2010). This depicts a stuffed Jack Russell standing on its hind legs holding a picket sign reading "I'm dead" in bold, black handwritten letters. This evokes bathos as it has blatantly stated the obvious of the dog's condition.

I'm Dead, David Shrigley (2010)

Bathos is created through the human stance of the dog which could also be considered in relation to Darwin's theory of evolution. 

Another example of humour being used as a mechanism in Shrigley's work is Life Model (2012). This was a room which had various easels set up in a circle around a sculpture of a naked man standing on a pedestal with over exaggerated features, e.g. elongated ears and nose, in front of a bucket which the "life model" pees into now and then as well as blinks.

Life Model, David Shrigley (2012)

When considering the pain of what a life model goes through, the depiction of the naked man (being able to blink and urinate into the bucket in front of him), it becomes comedic as well as crude. It also shows the comedic interpretation of sitting in a life drawing class as the over exaggerated features reflect how drawings in a life drawing class can be dis-proportioned when trying to draw from life. This allows us to see both perspectives of the life model and the life drawer. The viewers were asked to draw the sculpture and then display their drawing on a wall with various others, giving the illusion of a life drawing class. This can be associated with the everyday struggle of a artist or art enthusiast when considering the humour portrayed in a subject based way.

Overall, when considering Shrigley's "Brain Activity" exhibition, it is arguably humour that inspires the outlook that Shrigley promotes: we can find humour everywhere, even in the revered and "serious" atmosphere of the life drawing room.