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Freewheeling Paint Project in Plymouth

Date uploaded: June 11, 2009

Artists Jack Morris and Sue Austin, from Plymouth University, have used a motorised wheelchair and a bicycle to create temporary painted white lines in Plymouth City Centre.   

 Plymouth City Council has received complaints from locals unhappy about the paint which they do not see as art, and project has sparked  debate about the nature and role of public art in Plymouth.

The Freewheelers are three artists who temporarily leave their traces on the pavements of Plymouth, exploring the ways in which we all interact with public space. The artists anticipate and welcome the public's participation in their artwork.

Through the use of pitch marking paint, Sue Austin has created a looping meandering set of wheelchair tracks on her journey through the City, to make visible the freedom and expansion she experiences when in her 'power' chair.

Jack Morris is marking a line through walking which encircles the city, and passes through both of the degree show galleries, outlining a face which is found in the coast line (one of the 'faces' of Plymouth) using the same pitch marking paint;

Shirley will be inviting walkers to walk the plaited grass spiral that she is creating on the grid pavement in Frankfort Gate - bringing the countryside into the City.

Follow this link to the Freewheelers website