Category Archives: Curator

Interviews with curators and festival organisers

George Fort talking walking

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Walking along London’s Regent’s canal in Hackney with George Fort who has been developing a digital platform called “Placecloud”. Placecloud is all about animating the places through which we walk with place-specific recordings (‘placecasts’) written by writers, artists, scholars and everyday people. George maintains it is not a collection of audio tours, recorded in a studio by a dislocated actor, but instead numerous placecasts dotted across London, recorded by people like you and me in the very places we are observing and describing.  He spells out an intriguing and persuasive argument for why there’s an appetite for Placecloud and why he is convinced that it is going to be popular among us walkers. 19′ 24” 9.1MB

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STOP PRESS Placecloud has launched in summer 2021!

On Placecloud, leading cultural researchers tell the stories of the world through “viewpoints” – short podcasts about places. Viewpoints reveal the significance of the everyday places that surround us, bringing the world to life.

With an initial focus on London, Placecloud will soon feature viewpoints across the world, from Melbourne to Caracas to Tehran.

Alban Low talking walking

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Lesley Cartwright – “Love tokens & Bad pennies” 2019

Alban Low is the curator of an unusual art exhibition involving more than a dozen artists and as many writers, called “Love Tokens and Bad Pennies“, which you can explore by walking the streets of London in February 2019.  He tells Andrew Stuck, producer of Talking Walking, he is like an absent party host, arranging experiences and artistic interventions in public space for everyone to enjoy, while himself, keeping to the shadows. A publisher of chap books, illustrator and cartographer, he has a lot of projects on the go, for which walking and walks are integral. 15’39” 7.3MB

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Discover some art on the streets of London – seek out work by more than a dozen artists and writers in “Love tokens & Bad pennies” curated by Alban Low – happening all through February 2019.

Stefaan van Biesen talking walking

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Andrew Stuck (in cap) and Stefaan van Biesen walk a muddy track in La Romieu.

Walking in silence and stepping lightly on the ground are two rules with which Belgian artist, Stefaan van Biesen frequently asks his companions and participants to comply.  Today’s walk is an exception as Talking Walking‘s producer, Andrew Stuck and Stefaan step away from the activities of Made of Walking in La Romieu in south west France, for which Stefaan is one of the organisers.

Eschewing the car since 1994, and travelling lightly and slowly through Europe, Stefaan styles himself as a ‘flaneur’, observing human movement and interaction.  Walking is what he does, whether it is running daily errands, making artwork, or allowing his mind to relax. 22’44” 10.7MB

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Photo credits: Annemie Mestdagh

Listen to Stefaan’s 20×20 Vision for walking in 2040

Rick Pearson talking walking

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Often uncelebrated and rarely visited, the summits of each of the London boroughs can be somewhat of a let down, by the time you reach them.  However, in the company of Rick Pearson, even the climb to the highest point in London, becomes an enjoyable adventure.  Andrew Stuck accompanies him to  Westerham Heights, Bromley’s highest peak. Andrew admits he was somewhat underwhelmed when they conquered it, yet the passion and sheer exuberance of Rick as he recounts his previous conquests, and those to come, will carry you to the top.  Rick, in turn, has accompanied many others on these adventures, and you can listen to their stories on his londons-peaks.com podcast. 23’32” 11.0MB

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Listen to Rick’s recording of our adventure to Westerham Heights.

Tim Ingram-Smith talking walking

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Tim (far right) with fellow Spiral walkers

Tim (far right) with fellow Spiral walkers

Andrew Stuck first met Tim Ingram-Smith back in 2015 when he came on a walkshop to reveal the lost neighbourhood of London’s Kings Cross, on which Andrew had collaborated with fellow Talking Walking interviewee, Tom Bolton.  Tim mentioned that he was about to embark on a 3 year expedition to discover parts of London he had never visited.  He talked about how he was going to navigate his way across the metropolis, by following a set of spiral routes, beginning from Kings Cross. Andrew’s curiosity was piqued and he knew at that at some point, he would need to join Tim with his sound recorder to hand.

Recorded in November 2016 on part of a leg of the London Spiral, from West Ham Park to Forest Gate station. Published in November 2016. 19′ 18″ 18.2MB

full-spiral-route

Full Spiral route – November 2016

If reading before the end of 2018, why not join Tim Ingram-Smith on a leg of the London Spiral – further details here:  https://londonspiral.wordpress.com

Download notes from the podcast interview with Tim Ingram-Smith

Ben Waddington talking walking

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Getting under the skin of a city like Birmingham isn’t something you can do overnight, although that was how Ben Waddington and a group friends began their quest some ten years ago. It was almost by accident that Ben became a guide to the hidden, overlooked or secret parts of the city.  He was trying to help people out in finding out about forgotten characters in Birmingham’s cultural and industrial past.

 

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Images from previous Still Walking events

Ben quickly recognised that he couldn’t be an expert in all things Birmingham and has since set out to help others reveal what is under the city’s skin, by setting up the Still Walking Festival, and supporting local people to tell their stories.

Interview by Andrew Stuck: Recorded in July 2015 on a walk in Old St Pancras Churchyard in London. Published in April 2016 25’07” 11.8MB

Download notes of items mentioned in the interview with Ben Waddington

STOP PRESS – SEPTEMBER 2017

Ben Waddington has drawn together an intriguing mix of walks and talks for the Still Walking Festival – it is a fantastic programme that includes the British Army and tightrope walkers. Read more here..

 

 

Blake Morris talking walking

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e-ATT_1450652233884_received_10156241458400456_2It is difficult to resist the infectiousness of Blake Morris’s enthusiasm for walking and walking art.  Originally from California, via Seattle, New York and now based in London, Blake is co-founder of Walk Exchange, an intriguing ‘think tank’ on foot in New York City.  An advocate for reading about walking as much as walking about reading, he has devised the Walk Study Training Course withWTSC
 New York based artist Dillon De Give.   Take the course and you get the chance to walk, read and study walking art with others and to create your own.  When Andrew Stuck came across Blake 2 or 3 years ago, he was so intrigued with the Walk Exchange and what it had already achieved that he wanted to emulate it here in the UK.  Blake has trounced that idea by coming to London and running it here himself. 22’57” 10.8MB.

Notes from the podcast interview with: Blake_Morris

Photo credit: Christopher Wellington

What has Blake Morris been doing since our interview?

“Since my interview with Talking Walking I have completed my doctorate at the University of East London. My thesis, Walking Networks: The Development of an Artistic Medium defined walking as a specific artistic medium and offers new methodologies for critical and creative walking practices. It will be available through the British Library in 2018.

I have also started collaborating with the Living Maps Network ( http://www.livingmaps.org.uk ) and, along with Clare Qualmann, I edit ‘Lines of Desire’ for the critical cartography journal Living Maps Review ( https://livingmaps.review ). Over the summer all the members of the Walk Exchange were able to meet in New York City for the first time in a few years, and discussions are underway for WSTC 7 in Seattle, London and NYC. I am currently working on A Wander is not a Slog (2018)          ( https://awanderisnotaslog.wordpress.com ) a project in which I will undertake all 54 walks from Ways to Wander a compendium of walking instructions from members of the Walking Artists Network.”

STOP PRESS

Blake has just co-edited the latest issue of Streetnotes (June 2021) on “Walking in the Digital City“.

Claudia Zieske talking walking

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Getting artists out and about in rural north east Scotland has been the aim of Claudia Zeiske,  founding director of The Walking Institute and of community arts organisation Deveron Arts.

A keen walker herself, she uses walking not only as a creative practice but also as therapy.  Having been invited to compete in a marathon as a runner, she found the experience far from inspiring, and set about creating a ‘Slow Marathon’ in the rural countryside that surrounds Huntly in Aberdeenshire.  Each year a different artist is invited to devise a new marathon route where people are invited to walk as slow as they like.

Andrew Stuck caught up with Claudia between her busy schedule of meetings in London.  We walked a circular route around the Whitechapel Gallery, trying to find quiet streets in which to record our conversation – a staggeringly difficult challenge in an area beset with development including a new Crossrail station, as far from the tranquillity of north east Scotland as one can be. 17’30” 8.2MB

Download notes from this interview with: Claudia_Zeiske

Photo credit: Christine Sell

Bill Aitchison talking walking

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Have you ever been tempted to take a guided walking tour?  Visiting a new city, it is often a thing to do.  Some walking guides are accredited by their local tourist bureau, but it is rather hit or miss whether what you end up going on is of any quality.  DSC_0309Performing artist Bill Aitchison, while on a residency in Dubrovnik, started studying the myriad of guided walking tours offered to the throngs of tourists attracted to its historic centre.  His interest has turned in to a performance he calls the “Tour of all tours” in which he reviews guided walking tours offered by others.  Unusual? Yes but popular too.  Our interview takes place just an hour before he begins his artistic performance, and is recorded on a walk along the busy streets in Shoreditch. 25′.51″ 12.1MB

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What Bill has been doing since our interview:

“Recently, I’ve been getting more serious about getting lost and I’ll be leading a three-day non-stop Way-Losing tour this summer which should be fun as we will have no idea where we will stay along the route. This will really take it to the next level and might feel somewhat like being on the run. I’ve also refined some of the tools of getting lost and have a better idea now exactly why it is appealing.

I’m still exiled in China due to the British visa laws and I am now living in the former capital Nanjing. I’ve been working on an audio tour here that places Adam Smith’s 1776 treatise The Wealth of Nations onto some of the city centre’s shopping malls and this collage is proving to be suitably slippery and interesting. The pertinence of his description of a capitalist economy to a nominatively socialist one plus the insertion of instructions like, “turn left” and, “hard right” is appealing.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of work in Hong Kong too, both teaching how to make walks and also creating a new one of my own called Hyper-Heritage. This has gone into the city’s film history and sought to see how the cinematic city has shaped the actual city. It has been a great learning experience for me. I’m also working on some new concepts for walking performances that will highlight the art in everyday life, I’m keeping these under wraps for now till I can try them out in practice!”

Charlotte Spencer Projects talking walking

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Walking Stories is described as an audio walk, but it is much more than just a walk in which one wears headphones, in all it includes performance, observation, thoughtfulness, play and interaction with fellow participants and the surroundings in which you find yourself in.  Andrew Stuck caught up with Charlotte Spencer and two of the multi-disciplinary artists involved in devising and producing this extraordinary piece of immersive performance.  Walking Stories.5We met in Greenwich Park days before they put on Walking Stories, and before Andrew was able to sign up to take part himself.  The ambient noise of aircraft, helicopters, parakeets and children playing is intrusive in parts of the interview, however, it strangely echoes the way in which these artists have interwoven a soundscape of current and prerecorded sounds within Walking Stories itself. Part scripted with directional instructions, the genius of Walking Stories is the way in which it allows participants to follow their own course whilst all listening to the same soundtrack. 29’45” 13.9MB

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Walking Stories will be back in 2015 touring a range of different
parks in London. Keep up to date with news of dates and locations
through the website: www.charlottespencerprojects.org

Photo credits: Pari Naderi

Rowena Macaulay talking walking

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Co-founder of Walk Colchester, Rowena Macaulay is a chair user, passionate ‘walker’ and community champion. Although becoming paralysed some 15 years ago, her enthusiasm for getting out and about, and encouraging others to do the same, has not been dampened.  The topics in our conversation range widely, from the language of walking in the context of disability, to inclusive perspectives on access to the countryside, and the relative merits of mapping and photography as information supporting walking. We chat about how she came to devise a campus map for the University of Essex, how this led her to work on a ground-breaking 3D digital journey planner, led by local company Smart Networked Environments, that provides accessible route information both outside and within buildings. Drawing on her own research as a former student in Inclusive Design, she is currently developing phototrails as guides to accessible countryside routes, aimed at boosting the confidence of walkers new to an area.  Rowena also champions walk leader volunteering, by bringing commemorative walks celebrating the life and work of North American urbanist, Jane Jacobs, to Colchester each May. 33’54” 15.9MB

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Ali Pretty talking walking

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Ali Pretty describes herself as the analog partner in a collaboration that will result in a 100 mile walk that links the 8 white horses on the Wiltshire Downs to take place in August 2013.  Working with Richard White, a digital artist, together they will create an interactive exhibition including soundscapes, still and video imagery, conversations, and responses to the landscape at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes.  Ali has an internationally recognised reputation as a painter of large scale silks, creating carnival costumes and flags for exhibitions and festivals.  Through a love of long distance walking she is moving away from the large scale to create a range of silk products inspired by long distance walks.

Recorded in the garden behind Ali Pretty’s studio offices in East London in June 2013 and published in August 2013 20’47” 9.7MB

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Photo credit: Mike Jonston