The Scotsman

R-cade; Glasgow Print Studio

Unscripted; Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow

By Elisabeth Mahoney

We all know that, however great their offerings, art galleries can all too often be gripped by po-faced seriousness and (worse still) pretension.

Not these two, though, at least at the minute. For once, the galleries of King Street in Glasgow are verily teeming with fun and games. This is the theme, in fact, of R-cade the cool art outfit Lapland's latest show of work for sale by young and decidedly hip artists.

Lapland exhibitions are always fun, but this one is full of puzzles, games, and mazes just waiting for you to get interactive with them. There's Peter McCaughey's tiny spherical chess set, like a lollipop covered in minuscule playing pieces,

Karen Vaughan's knitting kit for a dominoes set and Sam Marsh's splendid Leonardo DiScratchio scratch-cards, issued by the National Spottery.

Computer games vie for your attention, as do more traditional challenges such as Stephen Skrynka's Joyriders game, in which you have to navigate a toy car through obstacles made up of 20th-century icons. I got stuck at Bolan and never made it on to Pollock.

For a small fee you can get a box of clues for a treasure hunt, too. A valuable work of art is hidden somewhere within 100 miles of the gallery, and some intrepid folk are already hot on its trail. This is a playful show of irrepressible child-ish charm coupled with the extremely high standards of design and production we've come to expect from Lapland, and it's a winning combination.

The fun that's to be had at Intermedia Gallery isn't quite so obvious at first. In fact, the place appears to be empty apart from the artist and some wellington boots, always a worrying combination in my view. But persevere, for there are hidden delights to be savoured. Well, maybe not savoured, exactly.

Woodeson has made an under-ground world of bedsit, grungy squalor, only visible through peep-holes in the floor Kneeling down, for there is no other way to see what's going on, you get glimpses of this grimy life - a pan of baked beans boiling dry stinks the place out; Patsy Cline warbles from a Seventies stereo; a crumpled, soiled bed isn't exactly inviting.

This is every bit as interactive as R-cade and, unlikely as it sounds, just as much fun. The second part of the installation is where the wellies come in, allowing you to wander round a dark, dank squelchy-underfoot bedsit. Think of the worst student gaff ever, flood it and walk around it in the dark; that's what this is like: stinky magic for those game for more than a laugh.

R-cade continues until 14 August; Unscripted runs until Saturday, 24 July .

From The Scotsman, 21st July 1999.