Art'ing about in Manchester Expand your horizons in 2011 and get some culture in you. Here are two free exhibitions to get you thinking and may even inspire you to throw some shapes. Art stylee.

Recorders

A live and interactive exhibition created by Mexican-Canadian electronic artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Recorders is a great exhibit which curiously uses the modern technology borne out of CCTV Britain and the surveillance state to actively involve the usually impotent passer by into creating their own artistic moment.

Using technology such as CCTV cameras, airport scanning machines, fingerprints, and stored digitalised information. Loranzo-Hemmer encourages us to look more carefully at the prominence of ID in modern day id-entity, and the many ways in which information is collected and utilised.

The exhibit is on the top floor of Manchester Art Gallery, it's free and you've got til January 30th so make moves. http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=73

Cuts & Grazes

Cuts & Grazes is an exhibition straight from the student voice of Manchester. The collection offers up an expression of the lived in-experience of the government with two heads. Nicely set on the new artistic offshoot of Fallowfield's Trof bar, the exhibit aptly showcases the creative responses to the coalition government using a variety of mediums from distorted furnishings, edited government publications, angst ridden drawings of restricted human emotions to a modern day transparent tapestry featuring the inauguration of the coalition government over the space of 100 days.

Featuring offerings from: Richard Birdseed, Helen Collet, Frances Copeman, Jane Lawson, Joshua Miller & Nicky Watson, David Picken, Duncan Robert, Jackie Raybone and Uncle Ratbone. Cuts & Grazes offers an intriguing commentary on an impassioned subject whose impact is only just beginning to be felt. The exhibit provides an enjoyable evening with a sombre injection of much needed thought for the future and, for the now. Exhibit is free and on from Tuesday to Sunday, 11am til 7pm up until January 30th, http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=180143005330939