Crowd sourcing

Word is that the announcement of the Walters Prize finalists will be made today. So is this rather dark and grainy photograph even worth posting? A couple of our readers certainly thought so and we’re an easy sell when it comes to gossip and hearsay. This pic is off Instagram and was posted in Feb this year. It shows Anthony Byrt, Tina Barton and Steve Carr huddled together in conversation. So what? Apparently there is also a link to Melanie Oliver and each of our correspondents feel that this curator-critic-director-artist combo fits the profile of the Walters selection panel like…one of those blue gloves they wear when they move art works. Couldn’t it just be some mates at the opening of the Christchurch Art Gallery? But what if it isn’t? What names are they muttering to one another, what’s that list just out of the picture they are so intent upon? Shannon Te Ao, Simon Denny, Gavin Hipkins, Seung Yul Oh, Fiona Pardington and Lisa Reihana. That’s six. They must still be including a couple of off-course substitutes. Or could they be….
(Thanks M, T and, a little later, D)
COMMENT VIA ANTHONY BYRT ON TWITTER :  "I was so drunk I got Steve to write shortlist on my forehead so I wouldn't forget it. Magnificent speculation, this."  OK Cross out Anthony