Martin Creed | Everything is Going to Be Alright

Martin Creed
Everything is Going to Be Alright
London, UK: Pier Trust, 1999
12.4 × 14.3 cm.
Edition of 2000

Founded by Alex Sainsbury in 1997, the Pier Trust (now known as PEER) is an independent organization that commissions ambitious arts projects by British and international artists. In 1999 they commissioned Creed to produce an outdoor neon work, for which this three-track CD single is titled.

Work No.203: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT is Creed's first neon work, a material he would subsequently return to countless times. The work is thirteen metres in length and half a metre in height, and permanently displayed across the façade of an initially derelict building, which now is part of the Clapton Girls’ Academy.

Built in 1825, the Portico was originally home to the London Orphan Asylum until a local typhoid epidemic required that the residents be relocated. It was then purchased by The Salvation Army for use as a training barracks. At this time the word ‘SALVATION’ was painted onto the entablature in large white letters. The Salvation Army left in 1970, leaving the building disused and eventually partially demolished.

When interviewed about the meaning of the work, Creed responded "It means everything is going to be all right".

The accompanying CD was conceiving as part of a as a singular "exhibition which exists simultaneously in the public and private realm". Recorded by David Cunningham (of the Flying Lizards), the disc features Creed on vocals, guitar and harmonica.

Two of the tracks ("I Like Things" and "I Can't Move") would later appear on the Art Metropole EP I Can't Move, with "Nothing Is Something" otherwise unreleased. The songs are subtitled Works No. 207 through 209.

Available from Hauser and Wirth, here, for €61.