◄ Overview
Martin Creed
Work No. 630
Once greeted with frank incomprehension by the art-going public, Martin Creed has now become something of a British icon, beloved for his dry wit and self-deprecating persona. Give his downbeat, almost-not-there-at-all conceptual works just a little time, and you may well find yourself laughing aloud, while remaining unsure of exactly what the joke is. This is certainly the case with this little arrangement of cacti, the bare minimum of a botanical taxonomy. As is often the case with Creed’s work, it’s possible to read in broader meanings – such as our tendency to rank everything around us into hierarchies – while sensing that such acts of interpretation are in themselves slightly ridiculous.
Tearsheet
Artist
Martin Creed
Material
Three different kinds of cacti, sorted by their height
Contributing Gallery
Hauser & Wirth
Date
2007
Dimensions
Unique, 3 parts
ID
Image credit: Photography by Mike Bruce
Work No. 630, 2007
Unique, 3 parts
Three different kinds of cacti, sorted by their heightHauser & Wirth
$0
Once greeted with frank incomprehension by the art-going public, Martin Creed has now become something of a British icon, beloved for his dry wit and self-deprecating persona. Give his downbeat, almost-not-there-at-all conceptual works just a little time, and you may well find yourself laughing aloud, while remaining unsure of exactly what the joke is. This is certainly the case with this little arrangement of cacti, the bare minimum of a botanical taxonomy. As is often the case with Creed’s work, it’s possible to read in broader meanings – such as our tendency to rank everything around us into hierarchies – while sensing that such acts of interpretation are in themselves slightly ridiculous.