Wednesday 14th December 2011
The theme for the House Art Competition this year was ‘Outside/Inside’, a theme that was partly inspired by the judge, Joan Hills. Joan is better known as part of the collaborative Art group, the Boyle Family, husband and wife, Mark and Joan, and their 2 children Sebastian and Georgia, who have travelled and worked together for the last 40 years making their ‘World Series’. They represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1978 and again at the as Sao Paulo Biennial in 1987. Examples of their works are held by the Arts Council, the British Council and the Scottish Arts Council.
On a cold December Tuesday Joan walked from house to house and was treated to an array of imaginative variations on the theme, from a winter wonderland complete with fake snow and snowmen (Ferox Hall) to a tree planted and growing from a lawn inside one of the studies (Oakeshott) to stencilled penguins on the walls of the games room in Manor House. The winner and runners up all showed a level of sophistication within the humour, with School Houses’ winning entry combining both an element of poetry and aesthetic sophistication. Projections of the outside world projected onto the white shirts of boys from within the house were printed large and accompanied by a moving film of the same. The three runners up included Judde house, Welldon House and Whitworth House.
Oakeshott House Entry
School House Entry
Whitworth House Entry