Listening to Purple Pipes
I'm undertaking a series of walks to better understand strategies for observing, collecting, and recording multi-sensory information around us. This research draws from psychogeography, placemaking, and embodied methodologies, seeking to understand the nuances of place through movement, stillness, and shared experiences. I explore how constraint, collaboration, and attention shape our relationship with place.
22.09.23 | Undertaken with Katherine Smith
In a collaborative exercise, Katherine & I set out on a unique performatory walk, guided by purple pipes that served as an interface (Smith, K., Listening to Purple Pipes at Canary Wharf Station, 2023) to our surroundings. These pipes, part constraint and part compass, shaped the physical and relational dynamics of our walk.
The pipes served as the scaffolding on which our sensory experience was built. As we ventured into the city with these pipes, I immediately realised the power of using such seemingly inconvenient objects as constraints. They were no longer mere props; they turned our walk into an act of negotiation: with each other, with our environment, and with time.
This demanded a deliberate act of deceleration in a busy business district. Our interactions — between ourselves, the pipes, and the public — surfaced a spectrum of social responses: curiosity, kindness, frustration, indifference. Collaboration was an essential aspect of the walk. As we navigated through the space together, we maintained a pace synchronised by our shared connection to the purple pipes. We were mindful of each other’s needs and preferences, offering support (Smith, K., Listening to Purple Pipes at Canary Wharf Station, 2023) and encouragement when the environment or our own limitations presented challenges. The sum of our efforts was greater than the individual parts. (Smith, K., Listening to Purple Pipes at Canary Wharf Station, 2023).
This walk enriched my understanding of collaboration and heightened my awareness of others’ sensibilities. This proved to be a remarkable and fascinating experience, touching upon collaboration, proprioception, and the role of constraint in shaping place-based encounters.