Hairy MPs, by artists’ collective Mongrel, aims to increase hair growth for Members of Parliament. The heads of the political elite will be seeded with extra follicles, numerically based on their parliamentary attendance records.

Hairy MPs is both a web site and an installation at Mongrel’s Jelliedeel Shed space. As well as displaying the hair growth on the web site – the software will regularly email the MPs to inform them of the current extent of facial fuzz and any action they can take to prevent further sprouting. Any resultant email correspondence will be available for public viewing during the project’s launch in March at Mongrel’s Jelliedeel Shed in Southend-on-Sea. Visitors will be able to print out the current state of their own MP and pin it to the wall along with their comments and further embellishments.

This unusual method of political visualisation continues Mongrel’s research to find ways to bridge the gap between the perception of information and social experience, reconnecting it within a framework of interest and accountability.

Launch party for the project: 25th March, 7pm – 12am, at the MediaShed.

This project is part of the NODE.London season of media arts taking place throughout March 2006.

Related: Theyworkforyou which offers British citizens the ability to keep an eye on their local MP and debates in Parliament and State Machine, a dynamic visualization of the relationship of the members of the U.S. senate to different sources of campaign funding.