Regent’s Canal Memories

http://regentscanalmemories.blogspot.com/

As part of our ongoing investigations into public and private places; play; negotiation and interaction, we have constructed an event to explore these notions. The event can exist at multiple times and is an ongoing event in which everyone can participate and which could (and hopefully will) extend beyond the limits of the Lab. There is no set number of times it can be followed, yet – as with every experiment – the more it is carried out and the more evidence we collate, the more interactions, disruptions and challenges will be experienced.

The instructions are given as strict guidelines and are to be followed to the best of our ability. Within these guidelines, there is room for negotiation, interruption and play (there is a certain expectation of subjective twists to both application and outcome). The rules are as follows:

Location: Regent's Canal, London (from London Central Mosque to St Marks Square)

Instructions:

1. Approach a member of the public
2. Introduce yourself and the project
3. Ask participant for a 'memory' of Regent's Canal
4. Record the meeting by any means agreed to by both yourself and the participant (eg. photography, collect objects, sound, prints, drawings...)
5. Give participant this blog address written on the specially designed card as an invite for them to add their comments and links in response to your documentation of the event
6. Record each experience separately on the blog with photos etc of each meeting if available

Regent’s Canal was chosen as a location due to it’s references to transport and to it’s span across the city. We needed to find a public place within the city where people could be approached and would be likely to respond to the request. A busy road or train station are not likely to give the participant the confidence or time. The request is one of privacy – a personal memory of the canal. How the participant responds to this will depend on a number of factors.

The recording of the event should be agreed by both ourselves and the participant. There should be some kind of negotiation. Although not specified on the instructions, we will collect ALL documentation and use this to construct a large scale map with objects/ photos/ drawings/ rubbings/ prints and sound pieces. Please keep everything from each meeting. The map is a way for us to recreate some of the meetings/incidents/performances in a physical, interactive manner rather than purely through a blog. Cards with the blog address will be issued to all SKOLP members. The blog is intended to be a place for us to document each event, but also a place where participants are invited to respond, correct, add links etc, as a potentially ongoing dialogue, open to change…