Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane roped in model-maker Alan Gibbs to provide a steam engine to power their “portable” computer.

One of Deller’s most famous artworks was his reconstruction, with historical re-enactment groups, of the Battle of Orgreave, the most vicious clash in the miners’ strike. Last year he and Kane curated an exhibition of contemporary “folk art” at the Barbican, including sectarian murals from Northern Ireland, village fete cake-decorating, and records of local rituals such as a gurning contest. “We are interested in what other people can do,” said Deller. “Somebody’s hobby can be an art form.”