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The annual award for contemporary art was presented to
Campbell by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, the star of '12 Years a
Slave', in a televised ceremony at Tate Britain, which oversees
the often controversial prize.
The Turner winner gets 25,000 pounds ($39,358) with 5,000 pounds
for each of the three runners-up - James Richards of Wales, Tris
Vonna-Michell of England and Ciara Phillips, a Canadian living
in Scotland.
Campbell, who also lives in Scotland, said winning was a
"validation" of his work and added that the prize money would
make a great difference to his life.
"The economics of what I do are not as great as say, a painter,
so it does make a difference in terms of me being able to do
what I do," he said.
Campbell is known for works tackling power structures and other
complex issues, such as the relationship between Britain and
Ireland.
His winning entry, "It For Others", uses a series of old and new
footage, including a 1971 image of Joe McCann, sometimes called
"the Che Guevara of the IRA", to show how images can be turned
into commodities of mass culture.
The picture of McCann, who was shot dead by British soldiers
less than a year after the photo was taken, became part of pop
culture to the point where the image was emblazoned on T-shirts
and Christmas stockings.
"He always takes serious questions... but then what he does is
treat them in quite an unusual way and this film is even more
unusual than some of his earlier works," said Penelope Curtis,
the director of Tate Britain, who chaired this year's jury.
"It's a work that really does repay sustained attention."
Past winners of the Turner Prize, which celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year, include Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and
last year's laureate Laure Prouvost.
The award, named after the 19th-century English landscape and
seascape painter J.M.W. Turner, has often courted controversy
for shortlisting unconventional pieces of art and is regularly
lampooned in Britain's tabloid press.
The works of Campbell and the three other finalists will be
exhibited at Tate Britain until Jan. 4, 2015.
(Editing by Tom Heneghan and Crispian Balmer)
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