There is something refreshing about the way Martin Creed speaks about his work. For his current show at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in central London he states a few things about his new monumental work ‘Mothers’, such as:

“What I thought was that the word MOTHERS could look good big.”

“I thought it would be good to make it spin.”

And about its varying speed of spin he said:

“I wanted it to spin round but I didn’t know what would be the best speed so I thought it should be slow to fast to slow to fast.”

‘Mothers’ is an open ended and confusing piece that creates a number of physical feelings as you interact with it, not that this is an interactive art work but its sheer scale, the closeness of proximity to the top of one’s head and the speed at which it spins mean that it is impossible not to create a physical relationship with the work and, in turn, react to it. The piece is a 12.5 metre long steel bar spinning a little over 2 metres off the ground with MOTHERS spelled out in over 2 metre neon capital letters on top of it. Its presence instills feelings caution and vigilance within the viewer, especially one that is 6’2” like your author; is this going to hit me on the head? being the primary concern. The piece makes you very aware of your own physicality with its whirring motor and draft adding to its presence. Should we wonder what it is all about? Judging from Martin Creed, I guess not.

‘Mothers’ is on until 5th March at Hauser & Wirth, Savile Row, London, and is well worth a visit.

See Martin Creed talk to the BBC here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12233736