Instructions to disrupt usual walking patterns

The purpose of these instructions is to prompt you to think about moving in a different way. Each instruction should be followed for at least 5 minutes*

You decide:

How many instructions you follow each day

The order in which the instructions are followed

How many times you follow the instruction

Walk backwards

Skip to work

Change direction every time you walk on a different surface

Stride

Walk barefoot

Notice the different surfaces that you step on

Hop

Walk to work an hour later than usual and notice the difference

Move at the same pace as the person next to you

Walk round the perimeter of buildings as opposed to through open space

Shuffle

Close your eyes and let someone else to give you directions of where to go

Every time you cross a road, alter the pace of your walk

Move without your feet leaving the ground

Wear a pair of shoes that are too big for you

Walk sideways

Tip-toe

Stop and look up after every 10 steps

Notice the colours

Change direction every time you pass a red car

Walk to work an hour earlier than normal and notice the difference

Jump

* Please note that I am not responsible for you being late to work, getting injured, or for you receiving funny looks when carrying out such instructions!

Wander|n

I was one of a group of students who have been involved in 'The Art of Straying', a research fellowship organised by Bridget Kennedy.

We have been on a number of journeys, including a walking meditation in the atrium at the University, urban rambles, a 'big adventure' and a trip to Cheeseburn.

Wander|n was an event; a group response to our engagement on the fellowship, and an opportunity to share our experiences with others.

We began in the XL gallery with a 15 minute walking meditation, and then were lead downstairs and along a corridor to a damp spiral staircase. At the top of these stairs, Simon handed out cups with tomato soup and a biscuit to enjoy as he told us a story about one of the urban rambles and then read a couple of T.S. Eliot poems.

We then meandered to Zoe's studio space where she presented an installation featuring an assortment of objects such as stones and branches that she found whilst on our journeys in combination with various other objects that she has collected over years. The origins and information about such items were contained within a concertina book which she passed around.

Franziska and Michael then took us to a couple of viewpoints in the university pointing out the way that the old building is often engulfed by the new building, with both styles of architecture being on view. They compared this with their Art School in Munich.

Once in the atrium space I recited my instructions to disrupt usual walking patterns, reading them like a poem. I handed out the instructions for people to take away and try out in their own time. This idea stemmed from my experience of the walking meditation, and how this exercise had made me consider the way in which we move and being more conscious of the journeys we take.

Before reaching the XL gallery agin, we stopped at the 2 statues at the entrance to the Hatton Gallery and Charlotte read us a story about the figures.

The event closed with a picnic, with homemade edibles and warming drinks.                                                       

Walking thinking Urban Ramble

One of the workshops that I signed up for was an Urban Ramble which took place this afternoon with Bridget Kennedy.

http://www.axisweb.org/p/bridgetkennedy/

A blog is being kept for the project, and will be updated as we do more workshops.

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/bridgetkennedy/

Our group of 6 students involved in the workshop this afternoon began by doing a short exercise inside in which we were asked to move around the space in a mindful manner. Bridget read out some text with prompts for us to follow, such as breathing exercises, focusing our attention on different parts of the body as we moved around, establishing an awareness of our bodies in the space.

We then ventured outside into the city, focusing on an area area Chinatown where there are the remains of the medieval wall.

St James' Park, the home of Newcastle Football Club, used to be the most visible landmark of the Newcastle skyline, but more recently the Newcastle University Business School has been built and blocks some of the football stadium from view.

Around the Business School there are a number of University buildings, with unified walls, some made from metal, some ceramic and some that appear to be clad in acrylic.

I like the patterns found on the surface of one of the buildings; very textured.

Some panels had bumps going out and others had bumps going in.

Bridget explained that this area of land "had been used for a performance from the last AV festival . The artist Lara Almarcegui, brought people onto the site to witness the extraction of coal in order to make the ground a sound foundation for the new huge building projects planned there."

http://www.avfestival.co.uk/programme/2014/events-and-exhibitions/lara-almarcegui-the-last-coal-extraction-in-newcastle

 

The walls of one of the other buildings in this area were clad in ceramic tiles, a material that I have not often seen being used for these purposes. 

In a strange space between the high-rised buildings, a layer of moss was being laid, presumably to help neutralise the carbon levels.

One would think that having a garden outside would help the mind, but I'm unsure that such positive effects would happen when the trees are dead!

We continued to one of the sites where the town wall still exists, and walked along the outside of it, along the alleyway between the wall and the buildings, and then along the buildings that would have been inside the wall. These buildings are now Chinatown.

Having walked through Chinatown, we entered Blackfriars, and the remains of the monastery. 

In the courtyard there is a walnut tree! 

As we walked back towards the University, we managed to escape some of the high streets by walking through Graingers market and Central Arcade, two interesting spaces with different atmospheres. 

I am pleased to see that most of the spaces in Graingers market are being used, and there does seem to be a good amount of people using the markets to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, cheese and other food items, as opposed to going to the supermarket.

Central Arcade is rather grand, and has glazed ceramic tiles inside. Once again, I am drawn to some of the patterns embellished in the tiles.