In January 1996, Furnace (Mike Mayhew's performance art company) moved
into BrockHall, an ex-inebriates institute now undergoing massive
redevelopment by Brockhall Development Ltd. Furnace's aim was to
establish "MyHouse & YourHouse," as an environment for artists to live,
work, eat and sleep. For 18 months Furnace and 30 other artists used the
landscape and the building to make work, establish a home, engage with
the community and begin to put into practice a "utopian arts space."
After 18 months the private Landlord did not need the presence of
artists–he had received planning permission to build houses.

Furnace evacuated Brockhall in two days and moved into the Storey
Institute, Lancaster. They have now received financial support from the
Arts Council of England and the North West Arts Board to begin to
rebuild and continue the creation of MyHouse & YourHouse with the aid of
new technologies. Furnace wish to investigate the use of new
technologies as a way forward for artists to create a free space, their
space. They aim to challenge the issues of land, money and greed and
will continue to search for their "Utopian Space." MyHouse & YourHouse
will now resituate on the World Wide Web.

Furnace need your help:

Furnace are building their new environment now. Five Artists are
currently developing work that engages with the virtual and physical
space, using the Internet as the means of communication and for
collaboration. The work will be fun, challenging and will invite
participation from local communities and virtual communities.

MyHouse & YourHouse offers the opportunity for artists to get involved
in the production of work within an open community. It also offers an
open discussion forum know as "The Bubble," which will be the place
where ideas are shared and foundations are built.

Please help us by passing on information to anyone you think might be
interested and please visit our site and contribute towards the
discussion and the work.