Bob and Roberta Smith: Mobile Reality Creator

What does outer space look like? Should we join the euro zone? Are men and women equal? What are the big questions facing us today?

Artist Bob and Roberta Smith brought the ‘Mobile Reality Creator’ to the grounds of Compton Verney in September 2003. The artist customised a Piaggio van into a mobile absurdist wardrobe. Women were invited to re-invent historical characters such as Henry V, Bomber Harris and Max Ernst, while men stood on the sidelines for a change.

In bringing together a cast of unrelated characters, the Mobile Reality Creator celebrated the subversive imagination of the surrealists and the anarchy of Monty Python.