The title, VICKED, comes from a regional pronunciation of the word “wicked”, commonly heard across Northern England and particularly within South Asian communities.
Like the modified vehicles at the heart of the installation, the word itself has been reshaped through migration, local identity and everyday use, becoming a metaphor for the wider project: how people take something manufactured and make it their own.
Working alongside mechanics, technicians and car enthusiasts, Akbar recorded the distinctive sounds of modified vehicles, from dyno runs and engine remaps to turbo whistles and custom exhaust systems. These recordings underpin a new sound composition inspired by Bassline music, a genre that emerged from Northern working-class communities and shares many of the same themes found within modified car culture: self-expression, ingenuity, technical knowledge and a desire to stand out.
The composition is presented through a series of sculptural speakers inspired by customised in-car subwoofer systems, where boot builds transform the vehicle from a mode of transport into a site of performance, and where bass, craftsmanship and personal identity become publicly expressed.
Through sound and sculpture, VICKED explores how mass-produced objects are transformed through acts of modification. From performance tuning to aesthetic alterations, the commission considers how standardised vehicles become expressions of identity, aspiration and belonging.
At its centre is the act of rejecting the factory settings, where the moment a mass-produced object begins to reflect the person who owns it rather than the manufacturer who designed it. The work asks how people build meaning, status and community through machines, revealing the creativity and autonomy embedded within everyday acts of making.
The Artist
Alina Akbar is a Rochdale based visual artist and storyteller working across film, photography and spatial installation. Her practice is rooted in both personal and collective experience, often developed through conversation, collaboration, and being chronically online. She intuitively detangles the complexities of workingclass representation and questions of diversity, amplified through a cinematic eye.
Akbar’s recent work expands beyond the screen into immersive environments. Through layered audio and siteresponsive interventions, she creates atmospheres that mirror lived experience and blur the boundaries between memory, myth, and everyday life. Her work bridges worlds that rarely meet, inviting audiences into her lived experience of class divide through street documentation and the archiving of cultural moments.
She was recently awarded the inaugural Football Art Prize and her work has been shown at The Whitworth, Touchstones Rochdale, Aviva Studios and Victoria and Albert Museum Late. Her recent film Pardesi Raga is a permanent part of the Manchester Museum South Asia Gallery and was featured in the CIRCA Art Prize 2024.
The Manufacturer
As part of her commission, Akbar has worked with independent automotive specialists – garages, workshops and industrial units, including Manchester-based performance workshop Awesome GTI & Performance M. Established in 1989, Awesome GTI has become one of the UK’s leading independent performance tuning specialists, combining engineering expertise with vehicle customisation, diagnostics and performance modification.
The artist also spent time at Blackburn College’s state of-the-art regional automotive technology hub, purpose built for Motor Vehicle courses. Working across a network of sites provided access to spaces, sounds and expertise that shaped the direction of the work and drew connections between informal and formal forms of manufacturing.
While large industries produce vehicles on a mass scale, countless independent garages and enthusiasts continue to modify, repair and personalise them. These spaces operate as contemporary workshops where technical skill, creativity and aspiration intersect. The project frames these often overlooked environments as sites of cultural production rather than simply places of labour.
Funders and Partners
Artist, Research, Direction & Sound Recordings by Alina Akbar.
Music Composition by Alina Akbar, Ben Blease & Johnny Jay Speaker.
Fabrication by Leon Farago.
Violin Performance by SCAPA.
This Project is a Co-Commission with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and the University of Lancashire.
With thanks to: Lisa at Awesome GTI Gerard Linnane and the team at Blackburn College Automotive Technology Hub.