And the winner is…

So the Turner Prize 2015 has announced its winner and I’m happy to say it was Assemble who took the cheque.

Assemble are the first collective to win the prize and you can’t help but feel they were the most deserving, not only are they a group using their skills in architecture and design, they’ve used this nomination to promote issues in social housing - a topic that has made a huge yet devastating impact all over the UK. They put the work into artwork and decried an opportunity for self important modern installations for good and honest show and tell. This has been missing from the immediate art world for a long time.

Other nominees did not go unnoticed, Janice Kerbel gave us a very interesting piece combining opera and using it to interpret slapstick comedy in a range of scenarios. It was unique to see the use of such serious and dramatic vocals used to describe what has always been a playful and innocent genre of comedy. Bonnie Camplin too gave us an insight into a darker view of the world with her exhibit The Military Industrial Complex. Mixed media gave its audience an interactive experience which, in my opinion, has always worked to the advantage of the artist. People like to interact, they want to be let into the secret, especially when it’s outside our comfort zone.

Nicole Wermers exhibit, for me, did represent the old modern art days. By this I mean it was too simple. On seeing it for myself I wasn’t sure if what I felt about it was ignorance or simply misunderstanding it. I was not the only one. Yes, I can understand the concept of it. That it is about claiming public space. I just can’t help but feel that it’s simply far too ‘less is more’. It wasn’t thought provoking. It was lacklustre.

Congratulations to Assemble, looking forward to 2016.