Photograph: Reuters
'In Palermo we went to see the catacombs of the Capuchin monks. We were very late and only had five minutes to see it all before closing time. To do it we had to run. I remember running at top speed with my friends through the catacombs looking desperately left and right at all of the dead people hanging on the walls in their best clothes, trying our best to see it all... it was a good way to see it. It was that kind of delirious running which makes you laugh uncontrollably when you're doing it. I think it's good to see museums at high speed. It leaves time for other things.' Martin Creed
A new performance piece by Martin Creed launched this week at Tate Britain with a rota of runners speeding through the museum's dramatic neo-classical sculpture galleries. Entitled 'Work No. 850', Creed's tightly choreographed live performance has been specially devised by the artist for the Tate Britain Duveens Commission 2008, sponsored by Sotheby's, and will take place throughout the day every day for the next four months. If you would like to take part in this work of art visit www.running-project.co.uk.
'Work No. 850' centres on a simple idea: that a person will sprint as fast as they can every 30 seconds through the 86 metre gallery at the heart of Tate Britain. Each run is followed by an equivalent pause, like a musical rest, during which the gallery is empty. 'Work No. 850' is about the purest expression of human vitality. This investigation into the body celebrates physicality and the human spirit, the constant ebb and flow of nature. 'Work No. 850' presents the beauty of human movement in its purest form, a recurring yet infinitely variable line drawn between two points.
This new work extends Creed's career-long investigation into physical experience and everyday life and relates to other works the artist has made exploring basic human activity depicting vomiting, 'Work No. 503' (2006), defecating, 'Work No. 600' (2006) and sex, 'Work No. 715' (2007). As with previous art works and music by the artist, rhythm and order are integral to this piece. The pace echoes the rhythm of Creed's renowned 'Work No. 227 The lights going on and off' (2000) displayed in his Turner Prize exhibition in 2001.
Martin Creed said: "I like running. I like seeing people run and I like running myself... running is the opposite of being still. If you think about death as being completely still and movement as a sign of life, then the fastest movement possible is the biggest sign of life. So then running fast is like the exact opposite of death: it's an example of aliveness."
Creed's idea for the work stems from a trip to the catacombs of the Cappuccini monks in Palermo, Italy. Arriving at the crypt just before closing time, Creed and his companions had only five minutes to see the museum and were forced to run around the space looking desperately left and right at all the dead bodies displayed on the walls, trying their best to see it all.
Creed's 'Work No. 850' is the latest in an ongoing series of contemporary sculpture commissions in the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain, which now, through the support of Sotheby's, is an annual event. Previous contributors to the biennial event included Mark Wallinger (2007), Michael Landy (2004), Anya Gallaccio (2002) and Mona Hatoum (2000). The series builds on a long tradition of exhibitions in the Duveen Galleries, which has included memorable installations by Richard Long, Richard Serra and Luciano Fabro.
'Work No. 850' by Martin Creed
Tate Britain Duveens Commission 2008
Until 16 November 2008
Tate Britain, Duveen Galleries
T: +44 (0)20 7887 8888
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