@walkingreading – T
Wed 07May 2014 6:00 – 9:00 PM with Ken Worpole at Open School East London
Dalston inspired our conversation as we discussed texts, which explore artists relationship to gentrification, class and community. Following Ken Worpole’s introduction, we set off from De Beauvoir Town to Ball’s Pond Road, stopping by the Duke of Wellington pub and a former Jewish cemetery. We walked through Ridley Road market and made a brief detour to Fassett Square, before making our way to the Hackney Town Hall on Mare Street via Graham Road. We had a drink at Pub in the Park in London Fields.
Braden, S. 1978, Artists and People, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, Henley and Boston, pp 152-155
Rosler, M. 2010, ‘Culture Class: Art, Creativity, Urbanism, Part 1′ in e-flux journal#21, pp 1-9
Wright, P. 2009, ‘Around the World in Three Hundred Yards’ in A Journey Through Ruins: The Last Days of London, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 13-21
Image: Map of Hackney, Courtesy of Hackney Museum
Wed 14 May 2014 6:00 – 9:00 pm with Faiza Shaheen at Iniva London
Faiza Shaheen shared her perspective and experience on economic inequality before this evening’s walk. Discussions around inequity, the mechanics of capitalism, power and freedom were informed by texts from Naomi Klein, Ursula Le Guin and Noam Chomsky. After setting off from Iniva, we headed to the heart of London’s financial district, passing by Finsbury Square and the Bank of England. We headed east to Whitechapel and then wound our way through its backstreets before finishing with a drink in The Water Poet.
Chomsky, N. 2012. ‘On Banks’ in Occupy, Penguin, London, pp 27-30
Klein, N. 2007, ‘Blank is Beautiful’ in The Shock Doctrine, Penguin Books, London, pp 3-21
Le Guin, U. 1974, The Dispossessed, Orion Publishing Group, London, pp 62-64, pp 109-111 and pp 286-287
Inequality Briefing, Wealth inequality in the UK, available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJ93tAbPP0, last accessed: 13.04.2014
Wed 21 May 2014 6:00 – 9:00 pm with Kit Caless at Bow Arts. London
Kit Caless offered his thoughts on how walking, writing and reading inform and shape places before we set off. We left Bow Arts and walked down the heavily trafficked Stratford High Street and through Westfield Shopping Centre. We then traversed a corner of the Olympic Park and made our way to the River Lea. From there, we walked through an avenue of trees in Wick Woodland and then turned back on ourselves to return to Hackney Wick. We finished with a drink at Crate Brewery. The dramatic contrasts en route sparked discussions on how we experience place, concepts of dystopia and utopia, consumerism and gentrification, which were inspired by texts from J.G. Ballard, Laura Oldfield Ford and Gareth E Rees.
Ballard, J.G. 2012, Kingdom Come, Fourth Estate, London, pp 38-43 and pp 84-86
Oldfield Ford, L. 2011, Excerpts from Savage Messiah, Verso, London
Rees, G.E. 2013, ‘Time’s Apostates’ in Marshlands, Influx Press, London, pp 160-167
Video: Stratford City, available at www.stratfordlondon.info/stratford-city-0?ajax=yes, last accessed: 14.04.2014
Wed 28 May 2014 6:00 – 9:00 pm with Rebecca Beinart at Whitechapel Gallery. London
Following Rebecca Beinart’s introduction, we considered spirituality versus rationality, different interpretations of ecology and nature, metaphor, and innate versus relative truths as we walked through East London. Texts from Murray Bookchin, Gregory Bateson and Nabil Ahmed were the basis of our conversations. We headed north east, passing through Weavers Fields and then made our way westwards to ascend and descend Arnold Circus in Shoreditch. We then crossed the sunken tomb in Spitalfields Market before heading west, past Bunhill Fields Burial Grounds, and then into the City. We marked the end of the third edition with a drink at The Old Doctor Butler’s Head pub near Moorgate.
Bookchin, M. 1987, Excerpts from ‘Social Ecology versus deep Ecology: A Challenge for the Ecology Movement’, available at www.libcom.org/library/social-versus-deep-ecology-bookchin, last accessed: 12.04.2014
Ahmed, N. 2013, ‘Entangled Earth’ in Third Text, 27:1, pp 44-49, available at www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09528822.2013.753191#.VDK0PijEcUU, last accessed: 15.04.2014
Bateson, G. 1972, ‘Metaloque: What is an Instinct?’ in Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, New Jersey, London, pp 50-51 and pp 54-59
Image: Anna Keleher, 2008-2009, Interviews with Fungi. Courtesy Anna Keleher
Video: All watched over by machines of loving grace – Episode 2, available at www.vimeo.com/73536828, 40′-50’, last accessed: 15.04.2014