MOVE over convention, here is a new way to enjoy art.

Five second-year Fine Art students from York St John University – Uriah Gabriel, 20, from Huddersfield; Lottie Walsh, 21, from Wilsden; Helen Parker, 21, from Cambridge; Charlotte Sane, 20, from Lytham St Annes, and Jacob Lomax, 21, from Preston – have curated Toast, a group show at New School House Gallery, in Peasholme Inn, York, that encourages you to do more than merely look.

Here is the students' premise for their role as York's 2015 New Curators: Normally you enter art galleries with an idea of what to expect, and after briefly reading the short catalogue blurb, you consider the pieces in hushed tones before shuffling on to the next. Instead, the 2015 New Curators ask you "to break with this conventional interaction with art works, engaging in a more active way with the playful environment they construct".

Or, if you use the relationship of toast and jam as a metaphor for experiencing this show, "Everyone loves toast with jam, but if you drop it, it always seems to land jam side down, " says Charlotte. "So we want to drop the toast."

In order to put this into practice. the students have looked beyond the boundaries of York St John to commission six artists with inter-disciplinary working styles for Toast: drawings by Andy Black, from Scarborough; paintings by Andrew Crane, from Hexham; sound and video by Debra Fear, from London; printmaking by Jade Blood, from York; ceramics by Karen Thompson, from Scarborough, and sculpture by Louise Winter, from Preston.

The exhibition then "removes the art works from their disciplinary categories, creating a space for genuine experience to take place between viewer and object, unsullied by the long-established discourse surrounding the gallery space". As art practitioners themselves, the 2015 New Curators are interested in blurring the lines between curator and artist, "re-appropriating the art works to the point that the Toast exhibition is perhaps a piece of art in itself".

Toast is the first product of the New Curators initiative devised by Robert Teed and Paula Jackson, co-directors at the New School House Gallery, in partnership with York St John University.

The students have been given "pretty much free rein" by Robert and Paula to put together the show, which forms part of their workplace module for their degree as they prepare to go into the creative industries.

"We all think that artist-led exhibition spaces are something we're interested in and community art spaces are important too," says Uriah. "You realise how easy it is to put on something good for people to see.

"For Toast, Robert [Teed] said, 'this is your art space; put together what you think would make a good show, working with the design of the art space and interacting with the viewer'. The only definite thing we had was this white-walled art space, so it was a case of using what we've got."

Working in tandem with the artists was part of that process. Take Andy Black, for example. "We heard how Andy had spent five weekends drawing on the walls of a gallery for a show, and after one day of his exhibition, that gallery was sold and his work was painted over, so we've given him carte blanche with his work for Toast, presenting large paintings," says Jacob.

Each artist was sent photographs of New School House or invited to visit or was familiar with the gallery already before selecting existing works to exhibit, and the curators then set about bringing the disparate art together as "an experience" for the viewer.

"So we project the Debra Fear's sound and video pieces from the ceiling, and we look to make links between everything in the gallery space," says Helen. "Paintings are on plinths, so we're making you look at art differently," says Uriah.

"It's a different way of relating to the work, like hanging a painting three feet from a wall," says Helen. "We've created a space where it throws you out of how you normally react to art," says Uriah. "We want you to re-engage with it in a different way and re-experience it."

Robert and Paula plan to host further New Curators shows at New School House as part of their partnership with York St John. Meanwhile, the Toast quintet have an eye to the future: "This exciting event could see the emergence of many more artist-led initiatives across the city, a much-needed kickstart to the York art scene and the ability for young artists and curators to get involved," they say.

Toast runs until Saturday and is open today and tomorrow, 12 noon to 4pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm. You can follow the show's progress at ongoingtoast.wordpress.com/