Last Friday, Oxford city centre was the cultural place to be, as two new exhibitions were opening and I made it my duty to flit between them like a (slightly tipsy) butterfly.

To start the evening off, I went to the Lolapoloza Gallery to view Damon Taylor's exhibition 2+2=5.

On display were five portraits executed in oil, and several objects. A sixth item is hung on the wall wrapped in brown paper and titled Please Don't Ask (Please Don't Tell).

More than slightly intriguing, I thought to myself. From the shape of the piece, and given that it was framed, I would presume a painting.

From the previous work, I would guess at a portrait. But perhaps it's a blank canvas? It may be a self-portrait that the artist doesn't want us to see, for fear of exposure?

I'm still dying to know what's inside. If I could, I would have taken it off the wall, felt it a bit and given it a good shake, just like a kid at Christmas.

The portraits were juxtaposed with several abstract sculptural pieces, such as a work titled The Death Of Margaret Thatcher, which is a large array of keys within a frame, each having particular significance or holding a specific memory.

I really enjoyed both artistic approaches in their own right and the show has a lot of interesting elements, but if the two distinct styles were merged further, I believe the resulting work could have been even more powerful.

Outside Lolapoloza was the Colour Me Oxford Alleycat, run by the Oxford Cycle Workshop.

This basically involved a giant bicycle treasure hunt combined with an art attack. Each participant was given a white boilersuit and a route card, which would send them round a variety of check points where they would find discover pens, paint, stickers and a couple of artists to all ready leave their mark on the boilersuits.

There was a good buzz, and a large amount of people participating. I had a chat to the people who run it, and found out the Alleycat' is a monthly event with a changing theme, so I intend to bring my bike next time.

I then walked down to the Ruskin degree show, Pack, featuring the work of 20 students in their third and final year.

There was a certain amount of excitement about this year's degree show, because Amy Jackson, right, who appeared on Big Brother Celebrity Hijack earlier this year, is exhibiting her work.

Jackson has transformed 579 newspapers from September 2006 to April 2008 into a 5ft 8in cubed sculptural object, entitled House, main picture.

The bricks' fit together with mortar in a delightfully consistent way, and anyone who watched her on Big Brother will see that this emphasises her slightly obsessive nature.

I hadn't been that sure about her previous work, but this piece became one of my favourites of the night, and when I first looked at it, I hadn't realised who created it.

Another particular favourite of mine were Grace Exley's drawings, inset above, scribbles created with bold neon felt tip pens.

These images reminded me of futuristic films such as Bladerunner, as compositionally they have a film noir element, depicting scenes of bars, with blurred characters dressed up to the nines in bright garish 80s style outfits.

Also worth mentioning are Jim Allchin's table tennis paintings, Ben Hunt's surreal video piece and Mimi Norrgren's corn field installation.

I did feel, however, that a small percentage of the work was incohesive, haphazard and unfinished, and the building was perhaps not utilised to its full potential. One student had laid out a series of plastic chairs, with coats positioned on the backs of some of them. I found it hard to comprehend that his was his degree showpiece.

He also had a cardboard box of balloons in the corner of a room which I confused with decorations for the show that somebody had forgotten to put up.

To me, this type of work displays a certain amount of arrogance, although I think that the point he was trying to make was that it was anti-effort' and self-explanatory. In that sense, he needn't have bothered at all, and handed in some thin air for his final piece. I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody marketing thin air; it could be a worthwhile and easy way to a First, provided it's supplemented with pseudo-intellectual ramblings to back it up. If my idea is recycled and you become the next Damien Hirst, I will expect a hefty cheque in the post!

I don't want to take away from the overall impression, as I did enjoy the show, but sometimes I'm disappointed that supreme intelligence can manifest itself in outright laziness.

But this is art after all, and we are all entitled to our own opinions! And on the plus side, I did come away with some nice balloons...

2+2=5 at Lolapoloza Gallery, Blue Boar Street, Oxford, OX1 1DL. Open 10am-5.30pm Mon-Sat until Friday, June 27. You can find out more by visiting the Facebook group artisjustaword Oxford Cycle Workshop Alleycats. www.myspace.com/oxfordalleycat PACK, the Ruskin Degree Show, 74 High Street, Oxford OX1 4BG. Until Sunday 10am-5pm www.theruskinshow.co.uk