Susan Philipsz wins the Turner prize – and art students stage a 'teach-in'

Certainly if one takes the lead from the Turner Prize, it certainly isn't about drawing, painting and sculpture anymore. Though even in my day, art students could go through art college without being able to draw, paint or sculpt in any traditional sense and seemed more about students being encouraged by lecturers to justify their lack of skills with third rate philosophical diatribes about self expression. Given that only a very small fraction of 1% of students will make a living through fashionable commercial fine art galleries, giving up on tradtional skills seems short sighted. My advice to students is don't be fooled by the fashionable art market and art preferences of curators, critics and academics like Serota and Co who fawn over amateurish art served up as creative self expression. Most artists I know who earn a living through their art but never get exposure by the metropolitan art world, are actually highly skilled. If anyone is doing art an injustice and giving ammunition to the people who want to cut funding for art colleges, it is the supporters of the type of art we regularly see in the Turner prize.By petrifiedprozaz