Article from bbc website

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The Art On The Side exhibition seeks to explore the stifling of creativity by the regulation of the nine to five work ethic and explores the notion of repressed creativity previously explored in other exhibitions.

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Co-ordinated by Nottingham based artist Anna Marlen-Summers, Anna came up with the idea two years ago after graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a degree in fine art.

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Anna said "Through my first job I met some amazingly creative people but all of them had to work to support themselves."

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"Their work was hampered, if not prevented, by the fact that all their time was taken up with working or recovering from work."

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"Very few of us were doing jobs that had any creative value, yet you could still see the potential within these people. It would find a way to manifest it self, weather that be in a doodle stuck on the kitchen wall or a really good birthday card."

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The exhibition enables artists to exhibit their work who wouldnt usually have the time, due to work commitments.

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Annas project not only takes the stress of organising the show away from the artists.

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The exhibition also allows other people to comment on the correlation between work and the art produced.

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Many of the artists work will feature repetition, as most of their jobs feature it.

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Artist Anna Sims is making a piece about her time working in a department store where she learnt, amongst other things "how to fold a mean jumper."

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The exhibition also includes work by Angi Fletcher (data entry), Brad Winfield (hospital porter), Marina Ansell (photography assistant), Nick Write (arts shop worker) and over 25 others.

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Is it a case of routine and regulation provoking concepts that would have otherwise been overlooked?

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Is it a case of art being used as escapism or is it an artistic protest against the western world?

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By visiting Art On The Side you can have all your questions answered by the artists themselves.

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Now back to work.

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The exhibition is open from Monday 4th to Saturday 9th November 2002 at The Art Exchange, Hyson Green.