Sat in a coffee shop in May, Julia O’Connell, artist and co-artistic director of independent, Coventry-based cross-discipline performance company Theatre Absolute, propositioned me with a brand new commission for their new work Project:Public.
I don’t know about other artists, but when I’m offered a new commission my entire being floods almost instantly with nerves and self-doubt. I tried not to show that. I think you learn to trust that, actually, those feelings are natural, and are your body’s way of protecting itself from something challenging. You hide it and push through so you can grow.
Julia asked me to consider what it is right now that I’m obsessed with, what I can’t stop thinking about, what’s at my core.
Project:Public is their first work post-venue. Coventry City Centre South is a redevelopment plan that has pushed long-term independent businesses out of an entire swathe of the city centre. Julia, with co-artistic director and photographer Chris O’Connell, have been seeking new ways of making work.
I’ve been a member of Walkspace West Midlands for a good couple of years. I once led a walk around central Coventry for some amazing artists from the collective. It’s a rich collective. I took part in the group show at Artefact this year, but other than that, I just don’t seem to get the time to join for any of the fascinating wanders, erratics, adventures and exploratory research trips. I feel a bit rubbish about that but nonetheless, I admire the group and themes, and am endlessly inspired and propelled artistically by the subject matter of creative walking.
In the proposed commission, I found an opportunity to hurtle into creative walking – performative walking – conversational walking – disruptive walking. I hoped the Walkspace group would be proud. [We are! – Ed]
And so, being unable to resist an alliteration, Polaroids, Podcasts and Perambulation was born. Bringing together, as it says on the tin, instant photographs of the city with podcasts recorded whilst perambulating.
We recorded two in July – one walking on Hearsall Common with Julia:
The other walking around Ball Hill and Stoke with Chris:
We used a set of prompts for topics to discuss while talking – moving between many varied themes relating to the arts, from notions of time, pace, pressure, randomness, histories, play, funding, collaboration, getting lost, being reactive, being sensitive, and of course, public space and walking.
They are 47 and 57 minutes long, and published on Soundcloud. You can find all the content – prompts, polaroids and podcasts – at this link. You can also find lists of references of people, things, projects and histories mentioned.
Please do listen and share any thoughts if you’d like to. My email is adelemreed@yahoo.co.uk and my website is here.