One advantage of the non- existent show is that the gallery will be able to put it in at any time it wants, alongside the more conventional objects in its collection. The money came from the Outset Contemporary Art Fund, in which donors each give £5,000 towards the cause of buying contemporary art for the Tate.

Time was among 14 works by eight artists bought yesterday by curators, helped by advice from Paul Schimmel, chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and Suzanne Pagé, Director of the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris. They went on a shopping spree at the Frieze Art Fair, near Regent’s Park in London, which has become Britain’s largest contemporary art event since it was founded three years ago.

Considering that anything the Tate acquires is a barometer of the art market, its activities yesterday were an extraordinary boost for the little-known artists they chose. Within hours of the fair’s opening, the Tate team had taken its pick of the thousands of works being offered by 160 international galleries. They had £150,000 to spend from the Outset fund. Their eye was caught by Stanley Brouwn’s grey filing-drawer stuffed with 1,000 blank index-cards, all neatly stacked. They bought it for £15,000.

Although some might mistake it for an ordinary filing cabinet, which would cost perhaps £15 in a second-hand office equipment shop, the Tate said that the 60-year-old Dutch artist who saw its artistic potential deserved greater appreciation.

His previous works have involved him walking through Amsterdam asking people to draw an arrow on paper to point his way forward. He then displayed the arrows on a table.

Jessica Morgan, curator of contemporary art, said that Lamelas, 58, from Buenos Aires, who studied at St Martins College of Art and Design in London, and Brouwn, were among older artists who deserved wider recognition.

She spoke of her fascination for Lamelas’s exploration of time. When the performance piece is staged at the Tate, she said, they would ask visitors to state the time in their own language. “It would work well as there is such a diverse audience,” she said. “It’s a collective experience. It’s relevant for a young generation. Lamelas is producing work that questions the environment of the museum and static objects.”

Other purchases included a sculpture by Alexandre da Cunha, 35, a Brazilian living in London, of two ceiling fans made out of skateboards, colanders and other found objects, and a film by Anri Sala, from Albania, which shows a performance by a rock band being interrupted by a balloon drifting across the stage.

Ms Morgan explained that the sculpture explored Brazilian culture while the film played with the manipulation of “sound and image”.

Nicholas Serota, the Tate director, said: “Tate’s budget for acquisitions is extremely limited and collecting contemporary art is essential to building Tate’s collection for the future.”

Yesterday’s purchases will remain on display for the duration of the fair, until Monday.

Celebrities at the opening last night included David Bowie, Claudia Schiffer and Alexander McQueen.

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