Art lovers snap up junk exhibit

Ms Takahashi sleeps in galleries while she creates her pieces

An artwork made of junk including washing machines, furniture and rusty shovels has been given away to visitors to a gallery on Sunday.

"My Play-station", by Turner Prize- nominated artist Tomoko Takahashi, consisted of 7,600 bits of rubbish - most of which was taken by visitors.

Ms Takahashi, 38, collected bric-a-brac from skips, car-boot sales and friends.

She spent three days setting up the exhibition, which opened at London's Serpentine Gallery in February.

Stuffed blackbirds

The gallery, in Kensington Gardens, had over 4,000 people visiting for the last day of the show, a spokeswoman said.

Other items visitors could take included vintage sewing machines, old computers, three stuffed blackbirds and a miniature pool table.

"People queued up and were given three raffle tickets, and these tickets could be exchanged for items, which a member of staff would go and get. People could then go to the back of the line and queue again," she said.

The give-away event is the biggest to have been staged at a public gallery in the UK, she said.

The piece was created over three days

Serpentine curator Rochelle Steiner said earlier: "Many people have described these works as 'a load of rubbish' but I think this show is giving these objects another use.

"Games come with rules, and she's really interested in how with rules comes order, and how you break out of order, and the relationship between order and disorder."

Tokyo-born Ms Takahashi slept in the Serpentine while she was creating the artwork.

When she was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2000 she moved into the Tate Britain to complete her entry, which was inspired by taking a driving test.