The Tanner Prize for modern art has been awarded to postman Mike Dean for a work entitled Delivering Letters.
I had no idea I was in the running for an art prize, said Mr Dean. I was just delivering letters, but apparently the way I did it amounted to art.
According to art critic Zora Astrean the award is significant. It exposes as myth the idea that art has to be tangible, knowable. For most postmen, the delivering of letters is just a job. For Mike, it is art but no-one can say why.
Mike Dean has no formal schooling in art but did attend a one-day Royal Mail course in communication skills.
I had no idea I was in the running for an art prize, said Mr Dean. I was just delivering letters, but apparently the way I did it amounted to art.
According to art critic Zora Astrean the award is significant. It exposes as myth the idea that art has to be tangible, knowable. For most postmen, the delivering of letters is just a job. For Mike, it is art but no-one can say why.
Mike Dean has no formal schooling in art but did attend a one-day Royal Mail course in communication skills.