There Are No Rules in Art

Sometimes the whole world seems to revolve around competition. People are driven by the desire to do better – often better than someone else. In culture, too, there is competition in many areas. Competitions are common in literature and music, and are often an important step in an artist’s career. Competition has a venerable history in the visual arts as well. The British Turner Prize regularly triggers off a massive response every time it is awarded. The Carnegie Art Award is the biggest art award in the Nordic countries. The most important art prize in Finland is Ars Fennica, although the candidates can be from any Nordic or Baltic country.

Competition is not bad. Winning an art competition can be of enormous benefit, securing a maximum audience for the artist’s work. The monetary prize that often goes with an award ensures that the artist is able to continue working. Talented, distinguished and industrious artists deserve to be promoted, be it through competitions or other means.

But is a competition the best way to maximise attention in art? It may well be, at least when attention does not focus exclusively on the winner, but also on the other contestants. All candidates for the Ars Fennica award get their work into the exhibition where the viewers are jurors, and everyone is free to make up their own mind about the works. The viewers’ opinions often differ from those of the jury – and the ensuing discussion only enriches the discourse on art.

There is one irresolvable problem in art competitions, however: there are no rules in art. It is therefore never easy to justify the selection of the winner. In the end, it is personal taste that settles the matter – whether it is the taste of the competition jury or the museum audience.

Berndt Arell
Museum Director, Kiasma