A LESSON in conceptual art and how to ignore inclement weather was in store for Ilkley Grammar School students when they spent a memorable day on Ilkley Moor filmmaking with artist Martin Creed.

The artist is one of the UKs most established conceptual/installation/performance artists, winning the Turner Prize in 2001 for work No.227: The lights going on and off.

He is an artist perhaps more likely to be associated with London’s East End or New York than Ilkley but on a recent blustery Tuesday a group of five A-level Art students were involved in what must have surely been one of the most fascinating and thought-provoking, but also one of the most unusual, school days ever experienced by students.

Jamie Gutch, of Ilkley Grammar School who organised the session said: "We were initially contacted by Robert Gibson, former IGS governor and friend of Martin’s who thought that it might be an exciting opportunity for some of our students to accompany the artist for the day while he was working on an autobiographical film. One of the sections of the film about one of the significant moments in his life, when he had witnessed a fight between two dogs, was to be recreated using images of cut-out dogs on Ilkley Moor.

"Students and staff were intrigued. On the day of the filming the weather was atrocious from beginning to end – wind, rain and everything in-between - but this did not deter either Martin, Robert or the group of students who carried on filming regardless."

After spending time talking to Martin the students - Eva Talbot, Beth Day, Pareesa Meer, Beth Cook, Scarlet Smith and Robert Gibson - asked him a lot of questions about his work and what the intentions behind certain pieces where.

He talked about when he had been back to a school he had attended as a child to shoot part of an art film and how he had made all the students wear their school uniforms backwards and flip their hair upside down! He explained how in this work he was exploring the idea of doing everything wrong and was questioning the norms within the art industry. 

Interestingly students noted the artist was using a unique camera and 'old-fashioned film' to get his shots precise and accurate.

Mr Gutch added: “Schools are normally very structured places with established rules, fixed routines and expectations to behave in a certain way. This is how institutions work and there are valid reasons why schools are organised in this way, however, as a result it is easy to get stuck in certain ways of thinking and to think that because something has always been a certain way, that is the way it always has to be. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Martin Creed has made it his life’s work to challenge and extend our understanding of what is normal, and he does that in incredibly unexpected, creative and engaging ways. I have no doubt that it has taken both courage and resilience to follow this path. It is one thing to have a quirky idea which looks at the world from a different perspective for half an hour, it is quite another to do that every day of your working life."

Martin Creed has also promised to return to IGS to perform later this year.