Martin Creed

Work No.123, 1995

Martin Creed makes work from the simplest means available that illuminate the reality of our everyday existence. From a simple statement he can challenge traditional and closed modes of thought.

He numbers each of his works as if they all form part of a grand strategy to question our preconceptions and celebrate the random and ordered systems in life. This is numbered 'Work #123'.

Creed's work is often contradictory, combining different elements to add up to nothing, although that process is often highly illuminating. In this work, for example, three metronomes are set running at different speeds that conflict with one another, cancelling the beat-keeping qualities of the instruments. This reveals the arbitrary nature of traditional measures of linear time and suggests the validity of alternative readings.