FrenchMottershead - Playstation

FrenchMottershead are London-based artists who collaborate on the creation of live work that specifically explores ideas of human identity, physicality, interaction, social ritual and the everyday public and private realms in which they are played out.

Rebecca French and Andrew Mottershead have created and developed an approach called microperformance to invite people to engage complicitly in creative acts. Through the use of objects, instructions, maps, photographs and actions, they gently subvert sites across the UK and beyond and the way contemporary art is produced.

Play Station welcomes city workers with an invitation to take part in an art project, involving urban actions, sticker bombing and a gallery display in URBIS.

Starting outside Manchester Victoria station with the spectacle of a town crier proclaiming new laws of behaviour, early morning commuters are enticed to follow instructions that provoke playful interaction with their city – its people, buildings, shops and sensations. On their way to work, breaks or at lunchtime, city workers are tempted to experience the possibility of risk, with risk being part of the fun, like walking on walls or introducing yourself to a stranger.

In addition to hearing the daily instructions, commuters are handed stickers that convey the town crier’s message, which they use to mark the location of their actions. A collection of commuter’s responses will then be added to the PLAY exhibition.

Who: FrenchMottershead
What: Playstation
Where: Victoria Rail Station, Manchester M3, Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, M4 3BG, and various locations around city centre
When: Mon 30 Jul - Fri 3 Aug 2007, daily. URBIS openening times: Sun - Wed 10am - 6pm, Thu - Sat 10am - 8pm
Further information:
-Urbis website
-FrenchMottershead website