Keith Tyson

Tyson was born in Ulverston in Cumbria and studied art in Carlisle before going to the University of Brighton. His first solo show was in 1995.

His works often bring scientific thought into art. He has used something called the Artmachine since 1991, a methodology whereby raw materials are turned into suggestions for artworks. As a result of this process, Tyson made casts[?] in lead of the contents of a Kentucky Fried Chicken menu, and dropped a thimble of paint off a building among other things.

Tyson represented Britain in the 2001 Venice Biennale[?]. One of the pieces shown there was The Thinker (After Rodin), a black hexagonal structure containing a bank of computers which gave out a constant hum.

In 2002, Tyson won the Turner Prize. The other artists shortlisted for the prize were Fiona Banner[?], Liam Gillick[?] and Catherine Yass. The British government's Culture Minister, Kim Howells[?], had visited the exhibition of the four's work at Tate Britain and left a note calling it "cold mechanical, conceptual bullshit", thus adding to the prize's customary controversy.

External link

• An illustrated presentation of Tyson's work and a conversation between Tyson and Jeremy Miller (http://www.tate.org.uk/audiovideo/tyson.htm) in .ram format at the Tate Gallery's website