Iron Lady of art’s latest work profiles her home town

The artist, based in the Czech Republic, makes Margaret Thatcher look like a bit of a pushover.

Interviewing her across a desk with an interpreter acting as intermediary dilutes nothing of the force of her personality – purposely forged by the artist who relies on convincing ordinary people to do extraordinary things in order to create her art.

There was the time, for example, she persuaded an entire village in the Czech Republic to work together – each household building a platform in their back garden which would allow Seda to climb over the garden fence into the neighbouring garden – all the way along the village.

More than 100 households collaborated in the final project and Seda decided if just one link in the chain was broken, then she would not complete the journey across the village.

For her latest piece, which has been bought by Sheffield Museums with the help of the first ever Contemporary Art Society annual award, the challenge was no less difficult.

For Lisen Profile, the work Sheffield has bought for its permanent collection thanks to the £60,000 commission, Seda worked with artists from around the Czech republic. She enlisted 500 of them to come to her home town, Lisen, to draw the profile of someone in the village. So far so easy, but the volunteers then had to find the very same profile shape in an area of landscape surrounding the village.

Somehow Seda convinced all the artists to take part, somehow it worked and the results are impressive.

Lisen Profile, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, to May 30. 0114 278 2600, www.museums-sheffield.org.uk