Martin Creed

Contemplate Martin Creed’s conceptual installation Work No. 232: the whole world + the work = the whole world

Originally made for the entrance of Tate Britain, this neon wall sculpture presents a text in the form of an equation. While the use of an equation suggests a definitive formula, Creed’s words remains ambiguous. It has been interpreted as both a positive statement about the inclusiveness of art, and a negative statement about art’s irrelevance.

I find it a lot easier if it negates itself at the same time as pushing itself forward – so there’s an equal positive and negative which adds up to nothing, but at the same time is something too.

Martin Creed