Art Comes Home (DIY Spiderman)

On a clear autumnal day in September 2002, two bored and unemployed artists, found themselves literally 'climbing the walls' of their three-up, two-down Victorian townhouse. Deep in the heart of Nottingham's Forest Fields they were waiting for something spectacular to happen, waiting for that million-dollar idea to come hurtling out of the ether and give them a wake up call.

Harrison&Ford describe House Gymnastics as being 'a crossbreed of yoga, break-dancing, climbing and gymnastics that allow you to exercise in your own home without the need to buy any equipment or peripherals'. Like most great concepts it seems that House Gymnastics was born in a moment of indispensable frustration, the kind of offhand moment that takes you on a heady ride from banality to brilliance leaving you with no time to catch your breath or get your bearings. Poised on the edge of Web-wide celebrity, Spencer Harrison and James Ford are well on the way to making House Gymnastics an international fitness phenomenon. Forget the gym, the new way to shed that seasonal party pack and tone up that festive flab is by busting some moves and making some art.

Inhale, exhale, stretch, and touch your toes... Right, let's start with the elegantly constructed website www.housegymnastics.com, far more than just a one-page wonder. Log on and find yourself surfing through page after page of improbable imagery, wall climbing, banister balancing, step-by-step diagrams, ceiling walks, a fibre glass goose and everything else you needed to know about House Gymnastics but never dared to ask. Get to grips with House Gymnastics slang, busted and amped have already entered the house vocabulary as part of everyday speech and the hallway now masquerades under the far grander title of The Arena. It doesn't end there either, there is also a choice of tailor made soundtracks to accompany you on your House Gymnastics odyssey, look out for Sam's Earth inspired by Lord of the Rings and House Hawking, a tribute to Harrison&Ford hero Stephen Hawking. Let's face it after one look at this site every stairwell, desk, cupboard and windowsill will become ripe with move busting potential.

Although Harrison&Ford advise that anyone under 2 or over 84 should take it easy I have a sneaking suspicion that baby walkers and Zimmer-frames could come into their own as high-tech House Gymnastics equipment. Indeed the youngest on-line member is only two years old and is already competing for the coveted Move of the Month title for February. This perfectly illustrates the extremely inclusive nature of House Gymnastics, which in turn captivates and moves the audience on numerous levels, encouraging them to participate to whatever level they wish. The viewer can bond with the idea initially because House Gymnastics in some ways reinitiates us with our childhood (or the last time we had a few too many). It gently reminds me of my suppressed desire to clamber all over the furniture, slide down the banisters and use my mum and dad's bed as a trampoline. Climbing up a wall like Spiderman evokes a feeling of power and freedom that makes you feel momentarily invincible, until, and I speak from personal experience here, you realise you have no strength left to manoeuvre yourself back to ground level. Maximum audience participation is encouraged and the relationship between the artists and the viewer becomes ambiguous. Each time a viewer performs or creates a new move, they themselves become a performer. With members creating their own moves (Steve Ray's incredibly torturous Human Flag for example), spin-off links and photo albums on the Web, the very nature of the work's authorship is questioned. Once a concept is unleashed on the Web there is a precarious lack of control over the development of the work, which makes the whole process unpredictable and exciting.

Whatever your opinion on the state of contemporary art and whether this is or it isn't, House Gymnastics is going to be big news. In the two weeks since New Year, www.housegymnastics.com has had over 60,000 hits, crashed its server twice, been singled out by Yahoo and bt3a.com as a site worthy of much praise and appeared in Dazed and Confused magazine. The demand for House Gymnastics is not exclusively limited to the Internet. Several curators have snapped up the opportunity to exhibit The 25th Element DVD (Harrison&Ford attempt to perform all 25 of their classic moves in as many minutes) and also a series of limited edition House Gymnastics prints. Having already moved outdoors and into office and gallery spaces House Gymnastics has already expanded beyond its original definitions and can be applied to more risqué situations and arenas. For a strenuous lunchtime workout why not try the toilets in the Market Square for an enclosed space brace or as one enterprising pair have already done, a raised handstand on the Town Hall lions. It seems that nowhere will be too great a challenge for a truly amped House Gymnast, not even the famous Nottingham Goose.

As the list of new members swells Harrison & Ford are busy making plans for the future of House Gymnastics. Be a part of it, get on-line, get amped and bust some moves.

(Sharmila Cogger, City Lights, February 2003)