Sean’s Commute
Melisha's Pilgrimage
Reg's Calling
Dot’s Path
We chose to work with four citizens of Southwark, one of London’s fastest developing Boroughs, who each showed varying degrees of control or conscious resistance, amidst the changing urban and socio-economic environments of their lives. After following participants on their normal walks, we explored different ways in which we could intervene into these everyday acts and reframe them into a performance, which posed questions about where these people wanted to go and how they wanted to get there.
Sean’s Commute –For a week Sean walked to work wearing amplified shoes and harnessed the power generated by each step to recharge his emotional bank account. His performance intervening into the path of his fellow commuters.
Melisha’s Pilgrimage – taking four steps forward then three back, a young mother who wants to better provide for her daughter walked across London from her home to Kings College Hospital, where she hopes to study as a midwife.
Reg’s Calling – a life-long customer of East Street Market, Reg has witnessed its decline. During the clean-up after a day’s trade, he wanders down the street performing gimmicks of the sellers that have long populated the market.
Dot’s Path – a local housing rights activist invited the public to join her on her well-worn walkabout her housing estate, volunteering her view on the politics of repairs, community life and how things have changed with time.
The resulting video documentation was screened at Tate Modern, September 2012