Current

http://www.dis-locate.net/opencity.htm

Open City Tokyo

www.opencitytokyo.blogspot.com

Introduction

Open City is a collaborative research project inspired by an event witnessed by Andrew Brown in which two presumably unconnected individuals simultaneously began running down a city street. The project examines how people travel through and experience urban environments and seeks to deconstruct and highlight the physical, social, historical, economic and political designs that create a city.

During the project we have been instructing people to take alternative journeys through a city, encouraging people to find alternative ways of navigating their way through familiar spaces. The first incarnation of this project, Open City: Nottingham was featured as part of nottdance07, 12 - 21 October, 2007. Through instructions people came together to take part in group exercises that created unusual moments of slowness, stillness, swaying and repetition at sites around Nottingham. A series of instructional postcards with a serialised essay written by Emma Cocker were released throughout the festival.

Posctard 6

Slow walk

Posctard 5

Click images to enlarge

Posctard 4

Posctard 3

Scheduled activities, Open City

Friday 12 October 5.30 - 7.30 pm
Practitioners' workshop with choreographed walk in City Centre
Dance4 studio to Bonington Gallery, Dryden Street

Saturday 13 October 12 Noon
Group Assembly – Midday chimes
Old Market Square, Nottingham City Centre
With live broadcast to Broadway Media Centre
Free, just turn up

Sat 13 Oct 2.00 – 4.00pm
Open Workshop
Dance4 studio

15-18 October 1.15pm-1.45pm
Discreet directed interventions
Nottingham City Centre

Fri 19 Oct 11am – 1pm
Lecture
Broadway Media Centre

Saturday 20 October 12 Noon
Slow walking race
The right Lion in Old Market Square to top of Victoria St, Nottingham
Free, just turn up

12-21 October Released daily
Six postcards with instructions for action
Postcards available from festival venues

Activities throughout the festival will be documented and highlights replayed on monitors at festival venues.

Emma Cocker has been commissioned to produce a series of six texts in relation to this project. Please look out for texts on postcards distributed throughout the festival.

Postcard 2

Postcard 2

Postcard 1

Postcard 1

nottdance07: Open City: Nottingham

nottdance07: Practitioners workshop with Choreographed walk

Friday 12 October, 5.30 - 7.30 pm
Dance4 studio to Bonington Atrium, Dryden Street
Free, places limited, book through Dance4: info@dance4.co.uk/0115 9410773
(some dance or performance experience required)
Taking a map of Nottingham as the score, Nottingham as the stage, and habitual gestures as performance motifs, practitioners will come together to take part in a choreographed group walk through Nottingham City Centre.

The walk will end at the Bonington Atrium to coincide with the V.I.P opening for nottdance07 and in time for the start of the 8.00pm performance that evening.

Documentation from this walk will be shown at festival venues throughout nottdance07.

nottdance07: Group Assembly

Saturday 13 October, 12 Noon
Old Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, with live broadcast to Broadway Media Centre
Free, just turn up
The public and festival visitors are invited to join others in Nottingham’s Old Market Square performing the single action of standing still for one minute, staring at the Council House clock face as the bell tolls noon on Saturday October 13th, 2007.

nottdance07:Slow walking race

Saturday 20 October, 12 Noon
The right Lion in Old Market Square to top of Victoria St Nottingham
Free, just turn up
The public and festival visitors are invited to join others in a slow walking race. Starting at the right lion in Old Market Square, Nottingham City Centre, the public and festival audience are invited to conduct a slow walking race following the tramline, alongside the Council House to the top of Victoria Street. Participants will receive no further direction than this on the day.

nottdance07: Discreet directed interventions

Daily, 1.15pm-1.45pm, 15-18 October
Nottingham City Centre
See blog for documentation

A group of workshop participants including students from Nottingham Trent University are directed to carry out daily actions as a group in Nottingham city centre. Documentation will be uploaded at www.thinkingfeet.blogspot.com with extracts shown on monitors at festival venues and at Broadway Media Centre.

nottdance07: Six postcards

Daily, 12-21 October
Free, Postcards are available from festival venues
A series of six postcards with instructions for action will be released through the festival. Instructions include two communal actions (listed above) in which audience members may participate, at 12 noon on Saturday 13 October, and the following Saturday 20 October, both taking place in Nottingham’s Old Market Square. The remaining actions are private and may be performed when appropriate. To accompany the postcards Emma Cocker has been commissioned to write a series of critical texts that can be found on the reverse of the cards.

nottdance07: Lecture

Fri 19 Oct, 11am – 1pm
Broadway Media Centre
14-18 Broad Street
NG1 3AL
Free, places limited, book though Dance4
info@dance4.co.uk/0115 9410773

This is part of the Broadaway Live series in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University.

www.broadway.org.uk

nottdance07: Workshop

Sat 13 Oct, 2.00 – 4.00pm
Dance4
3-9 Hockley
NG1 1FH

Free (places limited, book through Dance4)
info@dance4.co.uk/0115 9410773

Nordic Walking

Here is an email received from Catherine Hughes, a teacher of Nordic Walking whom I met in the Market Square recently....

Walking consciously and sub-consciously is something I talk about a lot when
I'm instructing beginners to Nordic Walk.

It is always interesting to see how people respond to their first experience in different ways. We first walk along carrying the poles horizontal - in the same way maybe we would carry a shopping bag. It is fascinating to see how some people simply walk in a natural manner (i.e. opposite hand coming forward with the foot) and others struggle and swing the same arm forward. I, and many other, would find that motion would feel very odd and unbalancing. But some people walk this way and find it difficult to correct to normal walking. When we strap the poles onto the hands and learn to Nordic Walk again some people keep the coordination better than others.

Interestingly their ability to coordinate the poles does not often correlate with how 'sporty' they are. In fact I have not yet found an explanation for why I see such wide differences in ability.

People often say that 'they are thinking too hard' and that 'if they try not to think about it [Nordic Walking] then they can coordinate the poles easier. Almost everyone eventually picks up the technique and the Nordic Walking becomes a subconscious activity just like normal walking.

If you'd like to know more about Nordic Walking then I'd be pleased to get involved with your project. I have a new habit now of watching how everybody walks through Nottingham!

Catherine

INWA National Coach and Instructor

www.midlandsnordicwalking.org

Walkers Workshop - Stillness and movement

Standing exercise. The group were asked to find stillness amongst movement. Standing in a line at traffic lights the group waited as thelights turned from red to green and back to red.

Walkers Workshop - Following and Getting lost

A pilot workshop with walkers. These are following exercises. We abandoned our own routes through the city, picking
up the pathways of others. Adopting the physical nature of their walk we left our own skins and experienced life in theirs.

Consciousness within a City Environment

by Linzi Gibbs

We began our investigation into attaining conscious attention within a busy environment with a hypothesis – being that we envisage we can lessen the amount we ‘drift off’ or become distracted by applying the Alexander Technique. For me this is an interesting concept - from a personal perspective, I have learnt that the Alexander Technique centres itself around consciousness - so it’s essentially about choosing (consciously) to apply ideas of consciousness. We can also consider this investigation in relation to everyday life – when in and around the city or the campus the concept of consciousness can actually be a safeguard – in crossing roads, keeping out of harm's way.

Consciousness is key, Frederick Alexander stated; ‘human beings cannot progress satisfactorily into civilisation whilst they remain dependant upon subconscious guidance and control’ (Alexander 1997: 1). He is implying that to become further developed beings, a state of heightened consciousness (not relying on the sub - or non-conscious) is integral. Our exploration therefore considers methods with which we are able to achieve a developed awareness.

I begin with a concept of reality – which contradicts my further investigation into Heidegger’s theory of the being-in-the-world. We are unaware of what reality is; being immediate only to ourselves, it can be said that we are our own reality - ‘It [the body] sees itself seeing; touches itself touching; it is visible and sensitive for itself’ (Merleau-Ponty 1964: 162). We are hence, all we truly know. This emphasises the importance of consciousness - being loosely defined as an awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts and surroundings. In this context, to be conscious of the self is of significance. Furthermore, we are required to exist in a continual state of consciousness - in a continuous now. It would consequently seem that the most efficient use of our time would be to engage fully with this reality (which supports Heidegger’s premise). Our exploration into conscious presence better enables us to achieve this whilst applying the essential elements of the Alexander Technique in order to further this conscious awareness.
The idea of psychophysical unity was of importance within our studies. The physical behaviour we perceive has a direct correlation to our thoughts and intentions – we are unable to separate the two as there is always physical evidence of any mental processes we facilitate. James Gibson states, ‘without any distinction between the activities called ‘mental’ and those called ‘physical’’ (Gibson 1987: 418). Psychophysical unity dictates that there is no body / mind split – the body is a whole, which we can refer to as the self. For instance, if the mind is in a state of awareness – simultaneously the body will be too (and vice-versa). This implies that if we ‘set ourselves up’ consciously and correctly – applying the fundamental principals of the Alexander Technique, we are able to function more efficiently as a whole within the world. We can be more aware of the self and our surroundings – where we are in space and what were doing. If we are not applying the primary concepts of directing it is likely that we are, habitually, not using ourselves efficiently – concurrently we are liable to be pulling down (Alexander’s term for erroneous use of the self) and therefore not using the body economically (too much muscular effort) as well as being in a state of unawareness. Our investigation is supported by the idea of psychophysical unity. If we consider the mind and the body as separate entities, it denotes that our mind can be conscious – yet we can simultaneously be unaware of what the body is doing, which does not aid us in our endeavour to become fully conscious, economic beings.

The idea of unity is of importance. Not only are we psychophysical beings, contemporary philosopher Martin Heidegger believes that there is no distinction between us and the world - ‘Heidegger called….[the] activity of existing being-in-the-world. The use of the hyphens emphasizes that there is no distance between ourselves and the world. We are as much a part of the world as it is a part of us’ (Lemay 1994: 47). The concept of our at-one-ness with the world connotes that the ‘distractions’ within the city are less so in Heidegger’s notion; that we are indistinguishable from them. It would therefore be wrong to assume that distraction is a negative aspect and that the action of being distracted is actually a process which one should go through in light of an at-one-ness with the world. Heidegger allows us to view the concept in an alternative light, but the notion of a call for consciousness is still evident – whether a distraction is viewed negatively or not so, we aim to become consciously aware in these situations.

Through analysis, we found that the idea of intention – of ‘directness’ towards things, objects and events allows us to remain conscious in a situation. To relate this to our exploration, for example, if you are walking through a town centre it is easy to become distracted by shop windows, advertisments or people. We almost go into autopilot – ‘switch-off-mode’ in that we begin to aimlessly wonder.

The idea that all use of the self is in reaction to a certain stimulus - be that external (the busyness of the city) or internal (within the body – pain for instance) is of importance. It is easy to do things without conscious attention, it is therefore easy to form habits. These habits - which we all have in one form or another – can become linked to a stimulus. An example of this can be seen in our interest in something (in this case, we can use the shop window), habitually, we move our eyes / selves towards it which can become a distraction. To have the intention to go to a particular place or buy a particular item enables the mind to focus – you are less likely to become distracted and ‘window shop’. We can distinguish the link between consciousness and intention - in that intention allows us to actively work as a whole self and remain conscious.

We can apply Frederick Alexander’s concept of end-gaining to the idea of intention. End-gaining is the notion of focusing on an end result and not considering the process by which we obtain this result. To transpose this idea to our exploration – if we do not focus on the process by which we go to buy an item – we are likely to ‘drift off’ and become distracted (by shop windows etc). To remain conscious and fulfil an intention, we must be aware of our process. We can also observe a degree of fulfilment within intention. For example, if we complete a task (go to the chemist to purchase some shampoo) we feel an element of success or achievement – we feel satisfied.

Intention is a continuous in that we always have intention – we have intention consciously (that we choose) and intention is also present in the unconscious (a non-conscious intention). I have cited that the non-conscious intention is simply intention (or energy) consciously or unconsciously directed in the wrong direction. As Alexander stated previously, it is therefore, consciousness that is key in the fundamentals of everyday life.

To further understand the concepts of intention and conscious presence in relation to the self, we conducted a number of practical experiments within Leicester town centre – where we played games of ‘hide-and-seek’. The intention of the game was to simultaneously find the other person whilst stopping ourselves from being seen; this dictated that our consciousness had to be heightened due to the task – which was a clear challenge within the environment. The distractions of the situation were a continuum; but we found that with an intention (the game) we were able to remain conscious despite distractions. We repeated the game, whilst endeavouring to consider and consciously apply the essential principals of the Alexander Technique. Along with the intention of the task, the emphasis on the technique gave us an additional intention, further preventing us from ‘drifting off’ and furthermore allowing for conscious good use of the self. This demonstrated that the application of the technique; ‘setting up’ the self – into a mechanically advantageous position prevented us from reverting to a habitual use of the self (without encouraging a Cartesian split) both in the visible physicality of the body (bad use) as well as in our thought process – which would thwart us from further ‘drifting off’.

Within the concepts of intention, I also refer to Sartre’s idea of freewill. We all have the freedom to think what we want - existentialism claims that as individuals, we – as human beings have full control over our choices and therefore full responsibility for the self, which in turn has an effect over the world. We therefore consciously choose to be consciously aware and we consciously choose to practice the Alexander Technique. If we don’t consciously choose what we think or do (i.e. if the mind wonders) we can sight this as drifting off. From a personal perspective – drifting off is an explict habit. The nature of psychophysical unity dictates that if I am unaware of how I am conducting myself as a whole – my body is likley to be habitually pulling down as I am not conscious (our mental and physcal habits come hand-in-hand). Existentialism also indicates that it is our choice to pull down – despite the idea that we may not be consciously thinking about the use of the self - we are – essentially, choosing to do so. I often choose to drift off – to indulge and fantacise. Alexander cites this negativley; ‘their continuous in indulgence merely satisfied some inward craving’ (Alexander 1996: 7). It is clear that indulgence (or fantasising) neither intensifies consciousness nor achieves better use of the self (or Alexander’s satisfactory progression into civilisation). It does, nevertheless (like fulfilment of intention), allows for a sense of satisfaction or achievement in the fulfilment of this craving. In choosing to drift off I am also able to aknowledge my surroundings and conduct myself with good use. This confirms the theory of existensialism – as consciousness of choice - as being integral to our investigation

From our experience of being distracted by shops and advertisements within the town centre (and the experiments we conducted) we looked to Epicurus’ solution to the happy life. Epicurus stated that ‘Pleasure is the beginning and the goal of a happy life’ (Epicurus 2000: 50). Epicurus explored concepts of necessary and unnecessary elements within our lives – the essentials being purely for survival – shelter, food and clothing. This causes me to question why we are attracted to material gifts. They do not reflect our basic needs, yet industry (and society) considers materialism of importance in order to make profit on these items. In a society that centres itself around materialism, it constitutes that we aim to obtain a happy life through the consumption of material objects – this therefore denotes that we easily get distracted in the city – by shops and advertisements selling material items. The concepts within Epicureanism connote that we aren’t skilled at intuitively answering the question – ‘what will make me happy’, this adds to our distraction in that we are distracted by not only the material item, but the problem of whether or not it will bring us happiness.

Through experience – walking both in a busy town centre like Leicester – and contrastingly on, for example, a street of terraced housing – it’s clear the distractions are more so within a commercialised capacity. This connotes that distraction is relative to environment. It is also reliant on the individual. If you are familiar with an environment, for example, we know what to expect in Leicester (as environment) - we are therefore less likely to pay attention to our surroundings and – furthermore – more-so prone to becoming distracted and drifting off.

To conclude, there are numerous methods with which you can improve the extent to which you are distracted / drift off. First and foremost - you have to make a conscious decision to change the habitual problem. Without firstly, a conscious awareness of the problem and secondly, a determination to improve your situation, you are unlikely to succeed.

Employing the characteristic use of a pause before you start your walk into town for instance, is beneficial. The concept invites you to simply pause for a few seconds, in order to attain a conscious awareness of what you are about to attempt. Clarity of intention is vital, it focuses the mind – lessening the likelihood that you will drift off, simultaneously maximising satisfaction, in the fulfilment of intention / task.
Easing yourself into a mechanically advantageous position using the essential Alexander fundamentals allows us to remain conscious and acknowledge our surroundings. In doing so, we can reduce the extent to which we drift off – and prevent the environment from affecting our intention. The aim is to see something, recognize / accept it and move on.

As above, the extent of distraction is both environment and individual depending – our conscious choice depends on individual interpretation of an event and the event itself. Furthermore, these can be seen as intertwining entities; James Gibson states that - ‘awareness of a persisting and changing environment is concurrent with the persisting and changing self’ (Gibson 1987: 418). We need to be conscious of both the self and the environment in order to be conscious of the self-situation, which I define as the body in space, integrating internal and external stimulus to heighten awareness. I end with the suggestion that (despite the slight suggestion of a Cartesian split) ‘Oneself and one's body exist along with the environment, they are co-perceived’ (Gibson 1987: 418). The concept of unity is a key thread to our findings, internally (we are embodied, psychophysical beings) and externally – we exist in relation to our surroundings.

Walkers Workshop - Overview

A pilot workshop with walkers. A group of ten people give up their usual agendas and find new ways of exploring Nottingham. Below is a list of the sessions participants could sign up for.

Wednesday 09 May
11am -1pm Session 1
Thinking about what is internal and external to you through walking.
Body work followed by walk.

2-4pm Session 2
Thinking about mapping space and choreographed walks.
Mapping habitual journeys that we take through Nottingham. Starting at Pre Set Studio, introduction to session, examples of mapping, drawing maps of routine journeys, the journey to Pre Set. Then retrace steps, looking at these journeys choreographically.


Thursday 10 May
2-4pm Session 3
Exploring disorientation and how purpose makes a place
Following people, getting lost, finding new pathways.


5 – 7pm Session 4
Thinking about the flow of a city – dynamics

Starting in Pre Set studio. Looking at the tension between stillness and movement. Looking at the flow of a city. Then into Nottingham, taking a birds’ eye view, resisting and going with flow at traffic lights, crossings, roundabouts and Market Square

Reading List

Things that may be useful to read in relation to the project:

The Art of Taking a Walk – Anke Gleber, early flanerie
Bone, Breath and Gesture – ed Don Hanlon Johnson
Wanderlust – Rebecca Solnit
A history of walking - Rebecca Solnit
Lost – Rebecca Solnit
Misguide to Anywhere
Hunger – Knut Hamsun. A novel exploring alienation and humiliation, walking streets of Oslo
Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
The Walker’s Companion – Ramblers association
Broke through Britian – Peter Mortimer. One man’s penniless odyssey
The 8 1/2fth wonder of the world – Roger Wakeling. A walk through Nottingham
Dante and the Lobster (in More Pricks than Kicks) Samuel Beckett. Among several Beckett books that describe walking/journey.
The presentation of self in Everyday life – Erving Goffman
Behaviour in Public Places – Erving Goffman
The Revolution of everyday life – Raoul Vaneigem
Essays on the blurring of art & life – Allan Kaprow (Happenings, invisible art)
In Search of Charm – Mary Young. how ladies should walk!
Imagining the modern city – James Donald
The Ruins of Paris – Jacques Reda
Cities – Lawrence Halprin
Desiring to be led astray - Emma Cocker
The Six Powers – Randall Havas. An introduction to the mechanics of walking
Also on DVD: Le Signe du Lion – Eric Rohmer. A hard up american on the Parisian streets

Night walk from Bestwood country park to Market Square, Nottingham

We wanted to take a walk from the countryside
to Nottingham city centre.
Our walk began in the woods and finished
in the streets.















Ending at Market Square at 7am we go into
Costa Coffee. The place is empty and it feels
like an airport waitng lounge. Without people
the atmosphere that has been painted onto its
walls ceases to work. We stand in Market Square
for a long time after this and it feels like we
could be anywhere in the world. This is a gentler
side to the city I know.

Walkers Workshop - Introduction

We are inviting people to sign up for sessions in which they will be asked to follow people and get lost, consider codes of conduct through observation and mimicry, consider formations and pace of people as choreography, consider Market Square as an ampitheatre and explore how purpose makes a place. The sessions attempt to breakdown a boundary between art and audience through using the city streets as a place for action.

The overall aim of the workshop is to test working with non-performers asking them to consider themselves and the city performatively. We hope to encourage a questioning of environment, behaviour and purpose, increased awareness of physical and social constructs, a new way of percieving the city and a reconsideration of ourselves in relation to it.

We are interested in creating small interventions that only become apparent fleetingly and then disappear.

We will be uploading images and texts from these sessions here.

Introduction

Thinking on Your Feet is a project initiated by the artists Simone Kenyon, Andrew Brown and Katie Doubleday who have an interest in exploring how we live in, journey through and experience the human and built environment that makes up a city.

We have been working together since December 2006 undertaking practical and theoretical research into this area in the lead up to delivering a pilot workshop to a group of mixed participants. The workshop runs over the course of this week as a series of seven, two hour sessions, in which particpants are introduced to the ideas and concepts behind the project and asked to perform practical tasks to gain a greater understanding of them. This is the first time that the workshop has run and it will make up a significant part of our research.

Following this we will be devising another series of sessions for audiences of the nottdance festival in October 2007.

We are setting this blog up to create an online space for discussion for participants of sessions and for others that want to keep an eye on what we are doing.