Take 8 artists with a national or international reputation, add one Curio City Shop, 25, 297 local people, locate it in Five Ways, stir, and stand well back. It's a recipe for a unique arts project we're called'Test Bed'. The artists comissioned for Test Bed were:

Pauline Bailey, Nelson Douglas, Darryl Georgiou, Sandra Hall, Julie M O'Neil, Harry Palmer, George Saxon and Mark Storor.

Each artist was challenged to make a project, in, or within ten minutes walk of theCurio City Shop and including local people in the research, making or execution of their project. Each artist had a very different practice and approach to the problem, click on their name to be taken to information on them and their Test Bed project.

The project was an experiment in artist autonomy, and in the making of challenging and high quality contemporary art in a community setting. The launch was a success with residents mingling with the artists, over a thousand people attended over the week, with many more experiencing the work through the window exhibitions and Mark, Darryl and Julie's 'offsite projects. The artists were responsible for the exhibiting and siting of their work, with Friction acting as facilitators for the logistical aspects of the show. You can judge the results for yourself by checking out the individual artist;s pages.