into the digital unknown (again)

Take a stroll down my street in London, a fairly typical terrace of Georgian '2 up 2 downs', lined with cars parked parallel to the kerb, and try to get by without a neighbour catching you on video. Curtain twitchers nowadays are on their mobile phones or computers, no longer a need to hide behind net curtains, they are recording your every stride in video and audio, and there appears not a lot you can do about it. "Oh but the convenience, Andrew" I hear them say, when I mention that they might just be over-stepping the mark on privacy, their video doorbells, and security cameras may be trained on their own front doorstep, but you may be surprised how much more of the street they can surveil.

It is ten years since I ran an "Expedition into the Digital Unknown", a series of six walks across London from Highbury Islington in the north east to the Royal Geographic Society's (RGS) HQ in South Kensington, culminating in a (reluctantly provided) official welcome by the RGS. They guarantee a reception for any geographical expedition to far flung places, but back in 2013 they weren't entirely sure that Highbury and Islington was all that remote. On each of the walks, we practised our skills and shared ideas on what you could do with your smartphone. We began with "getting around", how do we navigate our way using online maps and gps; on the second walk we investigated geo-located media as well as hacking Hewlett Packard's App Furnace so that people could track our every move. We chose "Kings Cross Street Stories" to critique, developed by Gaurdian Media and produced by Francesca Panetta. We invited all sorts of 'worthies' to join us including the Guardian, the BBC and the British Library, all of whom declined, but came along halfway through as they suddenly discovered that anyone could see our criticism of the geo-located sound walk in real time. Our third walk was all about privacy and surveillance....and what you could and couldn't photograph or video record.

I am thinking it is about time for a reprise, as the 'Digital Unknown', rather than becoming discovered, is in fact expanding at an exponential rate. Back in 2013, no one had traded in crypto currency, made a video for TikTok, no one had used AI for more than just getting machines to talk to each other; I for one, had never booked a room or an apartment on Air BnB. However, there is so much more, isn't there? And how do we as artists, performers and writers who make work on foot, make the most of the opportunities, while safeguarding what is rightfully ours? Is it time for walk · listen · create to run a series of online surgeries about new technologies and their likely impact? I believe that time is very close.

To offer some joy in these decidedly worrying times, I stumbled on a lovely a bit of radio the other day that I would like to share with you and I am hoping that you will be able to listen to it via BBC Sounds (itself only 5 years old). It's an interview with Ivy Richmond, a 99 year old, who had taken up the challenge of climbing stairs in her care home to the equivalent height of Mount Everest before she celebrated her 100th birthday. At least, as walkers, we can take satisfaction from the fact that by walking regularly and inviting others to walk and experience our work, we are contributing to our own and others' health and life expectancy.

If you have made work on foot in the last couple of years, don't forget to submit it to our archives, as it may be eligible for an cash prize in our Marŝarto Award for walking art (deadline 31 October).

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