'EasyExercises.com', a-n Magazine

Smith & Isley, Boredomresearch, August 2003

Easyexercises.com, a website by Adèle Prince, is inspired by Bruce Tegner's book Isometric Power Exercises, which suggests ways of integrating exercises into daily routine. Prince's re-interpretation purports to apply this technique to contemporary pursuits such as using mobile phones and remote controls. However, these are the only revisions, leaving this work weaker than her previous projects like Safety Instructions: DJ where she looked at the dangers of being a DJ, diagrammatically representing the hazards of paper cuts, perforated eardrums and sleep deprivation.

Unlike Lost-something.co.uk, Prince's picture archive of found objects, Easyexercises sits uncomfortably on the web. If this work is delivered under the premise that there is no topic too small to find an online audience, then it surely lacks the gritty reality or absurdity of the real thing like www.usedaoldisks.com – a picture archive of all AOL free trial CD covers.
Easyexercises comments on timekeeping and fitness obsessions. The work makes its point on the splash page, leaving the rest of the site without surprises. Although this approach works well for Chindogu – the Japanese art of useless inventions – as net art it has a shelf-life somewhere between skimmed milk and Flash Player 6. The content is better dealt with in works like Tictac typing by Ellie Harrison where users type off the energy consumed in one tic-tac, or Exercise bike, a video installation of the artist riding an exercise bike on a main road for a whole afternoon, going nowhere.

If you are unfamiliar with Adèle Prince it's certainly worth checking out www.adeleprince.com where you will find documentation of her other projects, but for integrated exercise we would spend time at www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Tegner/IPE/ipe-intro.htm where you will find a scanned copy of the book that inspired the work.

I think this review is a little harsh, but you can decide for yourself! Visit www.easyexercises.com and leave a comment in the' Fantastic Results' section.

Visit the website of Smith & Isley; www.boredomresearch.net

Right royal show of the lightstuff

'Rochdale Observer', March 2002

People should be used to seeing the outside of the Arts and Heritage Centre lit up…but not like this. To publicise the re-opening of the building-now called 'Touchstones Rochdale'-the usual floodlights were replaced with something a little different. 'Inside Out' was a temporary exhibition commissioned by Rochdale Council from young artist Adele Prince, to illustrate the diversity of things the centre will contain. Adele took inspiration from the hundreds of articles in the museum and art gallery collections to create a light show to celebrate 'What's in Store'-the pre-opening programme for the refurbished centre.

The usual 1903 and 1912 murals of the prominent landmark were illuminated with brightly coloured images of dogs, early bicycles and historical figures. Some of the items were selected by people who were invited to pick their favourites from the collection. Two of the images used will also appear around Rochdale Town Centre in coming months. The aim of the show was to not only publicise the centre, but also to give people an idea of the wide range of items in the council's collections.

An up and coming graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University, Adele Prince has displayed her work throughout the country. Arts and Heritage Assistant, Tania Bond, said they were delighted with the work. She said 'It's a lovely display and really highlights what a beautiful building the centre actually is. It's a great way to tell people about Touchstones, and hopefully it marks a good start to the whole project'.

'Adele Prince: Residency work in progress', On in Salford

Graham Parker, Autumn 2001

'A six-week residency sees recent graduate Adele Prince developing a practice which has already seen her achieve extensive media coverage and gallery interest. Her work takes as its starting point the banal instruction diagrams we find everywhere, from airline safety cards to milk cartons, and pushes them further into the realm of the banal: an animated neon shows us how to use chopsticks, a napkin shows us how to wipe our face, a performance shows us how to fold knickers; and the truly subjective-diagrams and videos on how to stand and move when looking at art; do's and don'ts of being an obsessive pop fan. Her work is witty and beautifully executed, using many forms to make its point about constructed behaviour in a consumer-led society.'

Flux Magazine

Interview by Jane Griffiths, June/July, 2001

'Do you fancy being stalked?' Adele Prince asks me over a latte. 'I was thinking of offering it as a service,' she continues, 'putting an advert in the paper or something. You would know when it would start and finish'.

I think for a minute but have to be honest-my life of merely popping to 'Kwik Save' and my local newsagents would test the patience of even the most obsessive stalker, which brings us to Prince's 'Flux Space'. Using the style of in-flight safety cards, she has created safety instructions for fans on how not to cross that fine line between fan and stalker. 'Some correct behaviour and some incorrect behaviour' she chuckles. How did all this come about?

'I have always looked at instructions on packets and stuff like that, I have a huge collection of them but a couple of years ago, I was doing an origami project, I was making a bird and it was really hard to follow the instructions. I spent ages on the internet, looking through books, I couldn't work out how to make this one thing. Eventually I got the hang of it and, thought, 'I'll make my own instructions'. Then I started thinking about making instructions for things that you don't really need instructions for: folding your bus ticket, shirt folding, folding knickers. 'How to Fold Knickers' I developed into a performance piece I did at the Greenroom last year for the National Review of Live Art. People seemed to like it because it is amusing. There are so many instructions around you all the time, you can't go through your day without being instructed in something, it is just a different take on that.'

So how does she act out her in-flight safety cards? Does she stand up front like an air steward: all arm movements and funny hats?

'The performances tend to be instructing, physically acting out the methodical movements. With the knickers and shirt folding thing I did a Super 8 film of myself folding the shirts, the only light source was from the projector, it was very focussed on what was going on, it was very simple.

While Prince slowly builds up recognition in the UK, internationally she is already renowned. Just tap her name into any search engine and the references just keep rolling in. This is down to her website, www.lost-something.co.uk, a shrine to all the bric-a-brac she has found over the years including coins, baby shoes and 'Dracula teeth that glow in the dark'. As well as being reviewed by a Spanish newspaper and receiving the much coveted title of 'Daily Wacko' from a Dutch website, she has also been nominated for competitions such as 'The International Media Art Award'. Prince started the website back in '98 but the responses just keep on coming.

"I thought once it was on the web, that would be it as a finished product, that I was ending that project-but then it just grew."

Internet Magazine

January, 2000

'Every now and again, a site comes along that makes you wonder how much time people have on their hands. Although this site could be quite useful as it helps you find things that are lost. We can't quite make out if this is a serious site or not, although the inclusion of lost 2p coins probably swings it for the mickey-takers. If it is serious, will anyone reclaim the photos?'

www.coolstop.com

January, 2000

'Today's award winner-Friday, January 7, 2000 A most unique concept…Adele finds all kinds of things in her travels-things that people lost or threw away. She collects those things as evidence of where she's been and presents the collection on the web, attempting to reunite the lost objects with their owners. Strange, indeed, but somewhat fascinating-garbage becomes art on the web and it's a real 'slice of life'. I also like the clean, minimalist design and simple layered text interface.'

'Arte.Red' on the El Pais website

January, 2000

'Adele Prince is a young artist licensed in Interactive Arts by the Metropolitan University of Manchester. Attracted by the history that is hidden behind the misled objects, Prince has conserved and catalogued all the found objects, whose dimensions were not superior to those of reference. With them it has created this project more famous Lost Something? A database where each object appears complete of photo and information about the day and the place of the finding. With time this singular collection has been extended, drawing a map of the movements of the artist through its findings. 'In addition to the tracks of their previous proprietors, these objects also represent the places I have been'. The artist invites the visitors of the web to demand the exposed object, if their characteristics agree with those of which there are lost'.

(The strange English is due to the use of a 'translate' button in Google)