Madonna gave the �20,000 cheque to Creed

The decision to award Creed the prize left David Lee, editor of satirical art magazine The Jackdaw, less than impressed.

"Last year, the Tate was scraping the barrel. This year they are scraping the scrapings," he told The Times.

"A light being switched on and off is not a good work of art."

The paper's art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnson was more sympathetic.

"His flickering installation may mean everything or it may mean nothing," she said.

Martin Creed's exhibit caused the most controversy

Adrian Serle from The Guardian felt there was nothing particularly new or revolutionary about the installation.

"Works like this have a long history, an impeccable pedigree going back a century," said Serle.

"He (Creed) is good at making something out of nothing, which is often seen as a kind of virtue, but which here has had people spluttering and complaining that anyone could have done it."

'Audacity'

The Independent's Tom Lubbock hailed the work as the "best" of the four shortlisted.

"The whole point of the Turner Prize is to attract attention. So perhaps it's only right that the artist on the shortlist who attracts the most attention should win it," said Lubbock.

This year's jury included Patricia Bickers, editor of Arts Monthly, Susan Ferleger Brades, director of the Hayward Gallery, Michael Archer, writer and arts critic, Greville Worthington, representative of the Patrons of New Art, and Nicholas Serota.

In a joint statement, the jury said they "admired the audacity in presenting a single work in the exhibition and noted its strength, rigour, wit and sensitivity to the site."

'Joke'

But dissent against the judges' choice has already begun, after a group of traditionalists called The Stuckists protested outside the Tate.

They made their feelings known with their own makeshift, modernist masterpiece - flashing handheld torches on and off.

The group's founder, Charles Thomson, said: "This has gone beyond a joke. The only people who cannot see how ridiculous it is are the organisers themselves."

Creed has admitted that he did not know what the work means.

He said: "I can't explain it. The lights go on and off. I like it, it's full of life. I don't know what other people think of it."

Creed was born in Wakefield and graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1990. He lives in Alicubi, Italy.

The show, at Tate Britain, runs until 20 January 2002.