The Class 66 up for the Turner Prize

Josephine Pryde was born in Alnwick, Northumberland in 1967 and she lives and works in London and Berlin. She is one of the four Turner Prize finalists nominated for the 2016 award whose work is currently on display at Tate Britain in London. The winner of the competition will be announced on the 5^th December 2016 and the show is on until the 8^th January 2017.

She has been short-listed on the basis of her exhibition at the CCA Wattis Institute in San Francisco, which was entitled, “lapses in Thinking By the person I Am” [her choice of capital letters]. In this new location, her entry is called, “The New Media Express in a Temporary Siding [Baby Wants To Ride].” The work contains a static, large scale model of Class 66 diesel locomotive No. 66152 in DB Schenker livery at the head of two British-style carriages adapted with footrests to potentially seat up to four passengers. The train stands on a short, straight section of track that runs the length of a wall display showing what have been described as conceptual photographs. The carriages have been tagged by graffiti artists from the cities where the work has previously been exhibited.

The reason for the change of title appears to be that she has de-commissioned the moving train that visitors to her display in San Francisco, Berlin and Bristol were able to ride on and replaced it with this stationary version.

I do try, I promise you, but it is not clear to me:

-          what the significance of the train is and its connection to the photos on the wall,

-          why the train is not operating in this particular setting as it has been elsewhere,

-          indeed, if a moving train was an essential ingredient of what the artist was trying to convey, how can the work still communicate the same meaning now that it is a motionless exhibit

-          why I can’t find any explanation for the change, online.

I have seen a photo of the installation where some leaves had been placed on the line ahead of the locomotive, but I have seen others where there are no leaves visible at all, so I’m not sure if someone was making an official [or an unofficial] point by doing that, or not. Though it will be possible to take photos in the exhibition at the Tate, apparently, I’m unlikely to be shelling out on this occasion for the privilege of doing so.

Please leave a comment if you are able to enlighten me. In the meantime, here is a picture of a real Class 66 diesel that gave every appearance of being usefully employed on the day that I took the photograph.