Martin Creed, Work No. 850

at the Tate Britain in London.

"Running fast is like the exact opposite of death - it's an example of aliveness."

Work No. 850 centres on a simple idea: that a person will run as fast as they can every thirty seconds through the gallery. Each run is followed by an equivalent pause, like a musical rest, during which the grand Neoclassical gallery is empty.

This work celebrates physicality and the human spirit. Creed has instructed the runners to sprint as if their lives depended on it. Bringing together people from different backgrounds from all over London, Work No. 850 presents the beauty of human movement in its purest form, a recurring yet infinitely variable line drawn between two points.


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Martin Creed's Tate Britain artwork shows sprinting runners

By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
Last Updated: 3:56PM BST 01/07/2008

When Martin Creed won the Turner Prize for exhibiting a light bulb going on and off, critics said conceptual art had finally run out of puff.

With his latest masterpiece, he is out to prove them wrong.

The artist's new installation, Work No 850, consists of a runner sprinting the length of Tate Britain's neo-classical sculpture galleries.

Every 30 seconds between 10am and 6pm, an athlete will make the 86-metre dash from one end to the other - for four months.