@walkingreading – TWRG on Care is returning this May as part of @OSRprojects You can join from anywhere! Book for a walk on 31 May 2-… https://t.co/tWhlrkMrhm
Friday 13th March 2015, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
During our first walk, we headed to the south of Bilbao, passing through various playgrounds. We used texts by Johan Huizinga, Lars Bang Larsen, Palle Nielsen, Carlo Collidi and Francis Alÿs to discuss our interpretations of play, and where and how we can weave it in to our everyday lives.
Huizinga, J. 1938, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture, Beacon Press, pp 96-108
Bang Larsen, L. 2009, The Mass Utopia of art activism: Palle Nielsen’s The Model – A Model for a Qualitative Society, MACBA, Barcelona, pp 29-44
Nielsen, P. 1968, A Model for a Qualitative Society in Bang Larsen, L. 2009, The Mass Utopia of art activism: Palle Nielsen’s The Model – A Model for a Qualitative Society, MACBA, Barcelona, pp 115-118
Video: Collodi, C. 1940, La isla de los juegos Pinocho
Video: Alÿs, F. 2011, Children’s Game #11: Wolf and Lamb, Yamgun, Afghanistan
Saturday 14th March 2015, 11:00am – 2:00pm
For the second walk of this edition, we were interested in how play manifests itself in the public realm, in sanctioned, unofficial and in-between spaces. Texts by Rosalyn Deutsche, Jacques Tati, Doina Petrescu & Constantin Petcou, Merijn Oudenampsen and Nils Norman formed the basis of our conversations.
On a rainy Saturday morning, we explored the north of the city, completing the walk in a café in the main square, where we continued our conversations.
Deutsche, R. 1998, ‘Agoraphobia’ in Evictions: Art and Spatial Politics, The Mit Press, London, England and Cambridge, Massachusetts, pp 274-277 and 278-279
Video: Tati, J. 1967, Playtime Trailer
Petcou C. and Petrescu, D. 2007, ‘Acting Space. Transversal notes, on-the-ground observations and concrete questions for us all’.
Oudenampsen, M. 2010, ‘Aldo van Eyck and the City as Playground’, in Méndez de Andés, A. (ed), Urbanaccion 07/09, La Casa Encendida, pp1-22
Norman, N. 2011, ‘Radical enclaves: Adventure Playgrounds Today’, in The Cat Came as a Tomato: Conversations on play and contemporary art practice, South London Gallery, London, pp 96-101
Saturday 14th March 2015, 4:00pm – 7:00pm
Workshop: TWRG As You Like It
Inspired by Boal’s Games for actors and non-actors, we led a workshop to explore the format of The Walking Reading Group. We asked participants to break one of our rules and assume different positions in relation to the project: initiators of the project; participants; host organisations and the press. Inspired by texts by Augusto Boal, Irit Rogoff, Jo Freeman and Pilvi Takala, we playfully questioned ideas around rules, authorship and walking that participants could apply to their own contexts.
Boal, A. 1989, Games For Actors and Non-Actors, Routledge, New York, pp 70-74
Rogoff, I. 2010, ‘Free’ in e-flux journal#14, pp 1-3
Freeman, J. 1970, The Tyranny of Structurelessness, http://www.bopsecrets.org/CF/structurelessness.htm, last accessed: 13.2.15, p.2
Video: Takala, P. 2008, The Trainee, ‘February 28, a Day in the Elevator’, 7:18 min
Sunday 15th March 2015, 11:00am – 12:00pm
During our final walk for this edition, we walked alongside the River Nervión towards the Guggenheim museum. We used a text by Andrea Fraser to discuss the role of the museum in the city and how architecture can influence our experience of a space or place.
Fraser, A. 2007, ‘Isn’t This a Wonderful Place? A tour of a tour of the Guggenheim Bilbao’, in Museum Highlights: The Writings of Andrea Fraser, MIT Press, pp 232-259