It was during the Autumn term at the start of Lower Sixth, when our History of Art teachers described the SPoKE art documentary film competition and asked us all to consider putting a script together over the festive season before incorporating this into a seven minute documentary about a piece of art work that resonated with us.

Although I can no longer remember precisely how I came across the work of Cildo Miereles, once I had seen his installation named Babel, I knew this was going to be the inspiration for my documentary. I took a trip to the fourth floor of Tate Modern, and here I shot some live footage of the sculpture bathed in eerie blue lights and emitting babbling noise from the numerous analogue radios and transistors all tuned to different channels that are stacked in the form of a cylindrical 8-metre-high tower. Over the course of several weekends in January, my piece slowly came together as I delved into the life and times of this fascinating Brazilian artist, although I had certainly had enough of listening to the sound of my voiceover by the time the final product had been completed.

Having pressed send on my application, I had no idea that I would make the subsequent shortlist of twelve along with Chloe, a fellow LEH L6 student. Those on the shortlist were invited to attend the awards ceremony held at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art on 21^st March and, with no expectations, I took a seat at the back of the room. The event was introduced by Mr Tom Parsons who helped set up this national competition about nine years ago in his previous life as a History of Art teacher as a way to promote and challenge students to link the visual and the verbal in an imaginative and creative manner, underpinned by academic research. He awarded the prizes for third and fourth places and we watched each of the films before Mr Nick Ross, who has published books on Miro and Canaletto, introduced my film and awarded me my certificate for second place.

It was amazing to be a part of such an occasion and to see how others had interpreted the remit, delivering fantastic and innovative creations. Several of the judges, which included Professor Abigail Harrison-Moore from Leeds University, also spoke with such passion about this subject and its current relevance to the world around us – something that my History of Art teachers, Ms Holloway and Mrs Farnum-Ford, also do on a regular basis and I would like to thank them for their encouragement and support in this achievement.

By Mo (L6B)