An Arbitrary Exhibition ft. Matthew Bamber at Toast, Federation House

An Arbitrary Exhibition draws together the work of five artists: Matthew Bamber (whose previous work, Plinth 2012, is pictured), Phoebe Eustance, Simon Patterson, Sarah Sanders and Peter Sweetman. Curated by Tom Emery, the premise of this show is chance. A set of rules has been laid down; one of which is that the artists must have complete control over what to exhibit without any direction from the curator. This will leave the the theme of the exhibition undecided until the works are on display and the curator can retroactively recognise arbitrary links between the works. It will be as much a focus on the role of the curator as it will be about the role of the artist and the natural consequences that arise when the strategy of curating is taken away. In amongst the collection of new and existing works will be film, sculpture, installation, language, audio and performance.

Fri 16 – Sun 25 Jan, TOAST, 6th floor Federation House, Manchester, Balloon St, Manchester, M4 2AH, open Thu – Sun, 12 – 4pm. Preview Thu 15 Jan, 6 – 8pm (performance from Sarah Sanders), www.facebook.com