To start the course and introduce ourselves to the rest of the group, Kerry Andrews, (course leader) set a task; the Icebreaker Challenge. The brief was to focus on a walk or journey and record or respond to it in some way, then find a way, (any way) to present the outcome, (as a presentation on 2 Oct 2020). The idea was to be thinking more about movement through a place than objects; about the encounter with place and the experience of moving through it.
It occurred to me that my regular walk through Norton Common, (in Letchworth) would be a good subject, as in this familiar territory, my sense of body and place would frequently change; with my focus of attention shifting from my internal world to the external world; from ‘thought’ to ‘experience’.
I took a series of photographs as I walked the route. Some of distinct things, well focused and framed; some with an unclear subject, fuzzy and out of focus; and some in between. The well focused images reflect key points or way-markers where decisions are to be made, (which way to go next) or points of affirmation or registration, (I’m where I thought I was/should be) or just points of interest; where my attention is keenly on the environment, and my physical presence within it. The fuzzy images reflect points where familiarity would allow me to go onto ‘auto-pilot’, into my own thoughts and preoccupations and lose all sense of where I was in the real world for a while. In between are the points where I’m aware of walking and of my bodily movement in a place, experiencing both both body and place, but not necessarily consciously thinking about either.
I showed these images in a Powerpoint presentation, with the images organised and blended to give a sense of slipping in and out of awareness of the surroundings
The Powerpoint had some ‘technical’ issues, but it can be viewed here