Breathing into a bottle is not art - it's breathing in a bottle

Keith Armstrong, artist

Among the exhibits are two jars containing condensed water from Mr Wan breathing into a tube while meditating in a shoe factory and an art department.

Mr Wan, a part-time lecturer at Northampton's University College Nene, is currently working on a new series entitled Inhaled Rooms, in which he sits in a cave beneath Nottingham Castle.

Mr Wan said the work was about pollution in the capital and about "getting to know your space".

But Keith Armstrong, a graphic artist from Nottingham, criticised the exhibition:

'Gimmicks'

"Breathing into a bottle is not art - it's breathing in a bottle.

"Too many people simply fall back on gimmicks and call that art.

"I have got nothing against modern art, but there should at least be something creative about it."

Last year Mr Armstrong made news by submitting a piece of scrap wood to the University of Nottingham gallery - where it was accepted until he told them it was a joke.

Deborah Dean, who manages Nottingham's publicly-funded exhibitions for the city council, spoke up for the gallery, saying they were keen to support local artists and to "get them to create something new".