Artistic License ?. BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning had an interview with the chairman of judges of the Turner Prize. The recent selection caused a stir when the UK Gov’t minister Kim Howell suggested it was 100% conceptual bullsh*t with pathetic rationalisations to justify it. Interestingly when Humphries was interviewing the chairman, he was getting at “but on what criteria” are the works selected. It was clear from the body language in the responses (oxymoron on the radio ?) that there were unspoken agendas that could not be expressed. A kind of “please don’t make me rationalise the irrational – it’ll spoil the art”. Reification kills art too then ?