Monday 28 January 2008

Follow Your Desire...



http://followyourdesire.blogspot.com/

In contrast to 'Regent's Canal Memories', 'Follow Your Desire' can be carried out anywhere at any time. This project can be replayed countless times and in a huge variety of locations. 'Follow Your Desire' has been constructed around notions of obsession and surveillance - both of which we have discussed at some length.

It is through the writing and documentation submitted to the blog by each participant, that we can begin to explore these experiences, perhaps putting together commonalities, similarities... experiencing the situations in completely different, subjective ways. Our explorations located in a physical public space will be carried out within the personal space of our own consciousness.

The choice of 'desire' is open to personal interpretation. We may desire to be like someone (their expression, looks, language they speak); we may desire what someone has (a child, a bag, a coat),etc etc. This intended openness allows us to 'choose', yet confines us to our own definition of desire/obsession. The nature of the 'following' can be as short or as long as we want - maybe just sitting on a bus behind someone, or walking with our friends in the same direction without telling them.

At the end of the lab project, we will collect all the documentational evidence and assemble it in some kind of order - Karen suggested a large map with photos, drawings, notes and Claudia has discussed some kind of interactive mapping. Suggestions welcome as to how this could be extended. This project is intended to be non-intrusive.

Location: Anywhere

Instructions:

1. Choose a person that you 'desire'
2. Follow them for as long as your paths are the same
3. Try not let them know you are following them
4. Record the route (this can be any format eg. a line drawing, a tracing, sat nav, drawing on an AtoZ)
5. Document the event in whatever means you desire- photography, sound, film, drawings, writing etc
6. Add an entry to this blog titled with 'location/date/time' for each person you follow - add text and accompanying documentation
7. Keep all hard copies of evidence and file them carefully as they will be requested by admin artists at a later date.

3 comments:

Marianne Mulvey said...

Reminds me very much of Sophie Calle ;)

vikki hill said...

Yeah - I was thinking about that for the following aspect, but more about how we can approach it in our own ways... bringing in different subjectivities.... I guess it would be interesting to see the variety if lots of people try it, rather than it being from just one perspective. Do you think it's too similar???...

x1x1x2 said...

I think it is a cool idea, and doesnt have to be to similar to Calles work if we carry it out in a personal way. I would for instance do less of the actual physical following, and rather follow the object of desire through a literary account, in prose.