The Boyle Family choosing locations at random using a map
Boyle FamilyStudy from the Broken Path Series with Border Edging - 1986
The works of Boyle Family replicate the world with the minimum of artistic intervention and as objectively as possible. They aim to make us look at reality with the same attention we would devote to a film or to the visual arts. Chance also plays an important role in determining what they will reproduce. This is one of a series of random studies of broken black and white paths, showing the process of disintegration and change. It is one of their ‘Earth Works’, in which they reproduce a section of ground, whether it be pavement, sand or soil.Accession no. GMA 3016 Medium Painted fibreglass and mixed media Size 182.70 x 305.00 x 12.50 cm
Addison Crescent Study (London Series)1969
This is part of the 'London Series' group of works by Boyle Family. It is an exact, three-dimensional replica of a kerb from Addison Crescent in West London. The artists chose this area to replicate by throwing darts, at random, at a map. The work was made by spreading a plastic substance called Epikote on the ground, which lifts up all the surface debris when removed. This was then given a fibreglass support and painted. Working in this way and recording whatever is within the chosen area, removes the aspect of subjective choice and reduces the conscious, decision-making process.
Medium Painted fibreglass and mixed media
Size 247.00 x 244.00 x 19.00 cm
Credit Purchased 1974
Boyle Family (Scottish, Mark Boyle 1934 - 2005; Joan Hills b. 1931; Sebastian Boyle b. 1962; Georgina Boyle b. 1963)
Mark Boyle was born in Glasgow. During the 1960s he collaborated with his partner Joan Hills (born 1931) in making assemblages of junk and found objects, before moving on to produce replicas of sections of the earth. Their project 'Journey to the Surface of the Earth' was launched in 1968 - 69. After being blindfolded, they threw darts at a world map, in order to pinpoint 1,000 areas of the earth's surface to duplicate. On travelling to a selected site, the Boyles would throw a T-square in the air to select a random area to replicate. In the 1970s their two children (Sebastian, born 1962 and Georgia, born 1963) assisted in producing these works; together they operated under the name 'Boyle Family'
