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Is swapping your shoes for a second-hand pair art? How about a sonic performance involving four CD walkmans and a drill? The British Art Show 6 is in town this month, offering a unique opportunity to view recent developments in British Art.
Every five years, the Hayward Gallery organises a major survey of contemporary British art, which aims to define current trends and new directions in the nation's artistic output. The sixth British Art Show includes sculpture, painting, drawing, film, video, live art and public projects by 50 artists and artists' groups living and working in the UK.
Curated by Andrea Schlieker and Alex Farquharson, the show was a huge success at the Baltic in Gateshead when it first opened in September, attracting more than 42,000 visitors in its first month. This month, it occupies seven art galleries across Manchester, bringing new artworks and special commissions to the city.
Manchester will launch M-Path (2006), a new commission by Adam Chodzko where visitors will be invited to swap their shoes for a second-hand pair for the duration of their visit to the Cornerhouse. The idea is that people's choice of footwear will influence their walk through the show and their perception of it.
Another special commission is a new large-scale wall painting by Toby Paterson looking at architecture and how the places we live in are shaped, which will be displayed at Urbis.
Among the works that will be shown exclusively in Manchester are Phil Collins's film El Mundo No Escuchara featuring The Smiths' fans in Colombia singing karaoke to the band's album 'The World Won't Listen'; Nathan Coley's new video installation 'Jerusalem Syndrome' (2005) and Saskia Olde Wolbers' film 'Placebo' (2002).
Also worth checking out is a live art programme that includes Doug Fishbone's labyrinthine slide lecture through history, philosophy, politics and sexual mores; an unusual show combining digital hardware with performance by juneau/projects; and a frenzied audio-visual performance set to a fast-moving collage of images by Mark Leckey's band Jack too Jack.
Although British Art Show 6 is a national art survey, half of the artists taking part were born outside the UK and much of the work reflects the complexity of the globalised world. There is also a 50/50 split between male and female artists. As the curators point out, the art scene in Britain is now "broader in outlook, more vibrant and internationally oriented than at any other time in the British Art Show's 26-year history."
But despite the art show's international direction, England's northwest is strongly represented. Andrew MacDonald, Paul Rooney and Matthew Houlding all live and work in the region and Adam Chodzko, Carey Young and Phil Collins all studied in Manchester.
Andrew MacDonald was born in London but lives and works in Manchester, which he claims is a good place to be for an artist. He says this year's British Art Show is all about diversity of practice.
"There are many different interpretations of art and different artists work with different media," he explains. "The work varies from video art to painting and everything in between."
One of MacDonald's highlights of the show is Enrico David's giant hand-sewn dolls, which he describes as "a fantastic piece of work Ð ridiculous, beautiful and Frankensteinesque."
You can see Enrico David's rag dolls at the Chinese Art Centre. And check out MacDonald's animations at the Cornerhouse and Manchester Art Gallery.
The British Art Show runs until April 2. It is free to visitors, but booking is required for some events.The host venues are: Castlefield Gallery, Hewitt Street, tel: 0161 832 8034; Chinese Arts Centre, Thomas Street, tel: 0161 832 7271; Cornerhouse, Oxford Street, tel: 0161 200 1500; The International 3, Fairfield Street, tel: 0161 237 3336; Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, tel: 0161 235 8888; Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, tel: 0161 605 8200; and The Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Road, tel: 0161 275 7450.