Hamilton Perambulatory Unit
UPCOMING WALKS
A Sense of Impending Doom: a strata-walk for turbulent times
Date: WEDNESDAY, JULY 22ND, 2020
Time: 7AM LOS ANGELES; 10AM TORONTO; 3pm GUIMARÃES (Portugal); 12AM MIDNIGHT in MELBOURNE
How do we sense and deal with impending doom in our everyday lives and in our creative work? Can sensorial and mundane art-making practices help us to map our way out? The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (HPU), in partnership with the Commission for Art and Cartography (ArtCarto) of the International Cartographic Society, presents a Strata-Walk (Doom and Zoom edition) for turbulent times. This live, online event will begin with a video presentation/performance on the Strata-Walk, HPU's framework of stratigraphic place-making and mapping, before turning the focus onto the digital and technological space that connects us. Using a system of prompts, Strata-Walkers map their environments in a performative gesture by turning their attention to one element of place, then documenting it in a Strata-Map. This experimental, emotional, ephemeral cartography relies on the body-as-sensor moving through space, as well as other techniques of reading, framing and re-framing one's self and surroundings.
For this walkshop (part of the international conference Drifting Bodies/Fluent Spaces), four members of HPU and ArtCarto – located in Canada, the US, and Australia – will lead participants through an investigation of the digital strata of Zoom and the intimate, analog materialities strata of one’s room (if in lockdown, as many still are) or wherever one happens to be. Starting in the centre of our collective Zoom and doom, we will explore our embodied emotions, networked places, and live speculative imaginings, mapping our way out to find the sky above us all. The resulting collective mappings will be constructed into an ad hoc art exhibition and all participants will share credit.
Participants are asked to bring one or two sheets of blank paper, a black marker, a device with a camera, and the web-conferencing application Zoom pre-downloaded (can be on same device as camera, or ideally, a separate device). A Zoom link with password will be shared before the event.
Contact:
Taien Ng-Chan for HPU (Canada)
hamiltonperambulatoryunit [ a t ] gmail [ dot ] com
Conference website (Drifting Bodies, Fluent Spaces):
https://walk.lab2pt.net/
Time: 7AM LOS ANGELES; 10AM TORONTO; 3pm GUIMARÃES (Portugal); 12AM MIDNIGHT in MELBOURNE
How do we sense and deal with impending doom in our everyday lives and in our creative work? Can sensorial and mundane art-making practices help us to map our way out? The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (HPU), in partnership with the Commission for Art and Cartography (ArtCarto) of the International Cartographic Society, presents a Strata-Walk (Doom and Zoom edition) for turbulent times. This live, online event will begin with a video presentation/performance on the Strata-Walk, HPU's framework of stratigraphic place-making and mapping, before turning the focus onto the digital and technological space that connects us. Using a system of prompts, Strata-Walkers map their environments in a performative gesture by turning their attention to one element of place, then documenting it in a Strata-Map. This experimental, emotional, ephemeral cartography relies on the body-as-sensor moving through space, as well as other techniques of reading, framing and re-framing one's self and surroundings.
For this walkshop (part of the international conference Drifting Bodies/Fluent Spaces), four members of HPU and ArtCarto – located in Canada, the US, and Australia – will lead participants through an investigation of the digital strata of Zoom and the intimate, analog materialities strata of one’s room (if in lockdown, as many still are) or wherever one happens to be. Starting in the centre of our collective Zoom and doom, we will explore our embodied emotions, networked places, and live speculative imaginings, mapping our way out to find the sky above us all. The resulting collective mappings will be constructed into an ad hoc art exhibition and all participants will share credit.
Participants are asked to bring one or two sheets of blank paper, a black marker, a device with a camera, and the web-conferencing application Zoom pre-downloaded (can be on same device as camera, or ideally, a separate device). A Zoom link with password will be shared before the event.
Contact:
Taien Ng-Chan for HPU (Canada)
hamiltonperambulatoryunit [ a t ] gmail [ dot ] com
Conference website (Drifting Bodies, Fluent Spaces):
https://walk.lab2pt.net/
ONGOING PROJECTS: WORD WALKS
“WORD WALKs” is an initiative from HPU that anyone can do. As you meander however through the city, take photos of words that catch your eye/mind. Arrange them into a poster---a slideshow---a story---by colour---by meaning….as a collage---whatever you like. Send it to us and we'll post it here…video, pdf, jpg, gif, film…whatever digital means you like. I have been making Haiku (as is my way) which is poetry arranged in syllables---first line 5 syllables, 2nd 7 syllables and the final 5 again (5, 7, 5).
“WORD WORKs” is the first public invite for work you can do solo. We will be doing more of these in time. Join in whenever you like.
Thanks
Donna Akrey, HPU
“WORD WORKs” is the first public invite for work you can do solo. We will be doing more of these in time. Join in whenever you like.
Thanks
Donna Akrey, HPU
PAST WALKS: TRACES AND MUSINGS
(see more at hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.com)
Saturday, June 8, 2019
The HPU led an Itinerant Reading Group as part of Michael DiRisio's exhibition Archiving Unrest at the Worker's Arts and Heritage Centre.
We discussed a chapter from Karen O’Rourke’s Walking and Mapping: Artists as Cartographers, focusing on the political practice of perambulation and critical cartography.
https://wahc-museum.ca/event/reading-groups/
The HPU led an Itinerant Reading Group as part of Michael DiRisio's exhibition Archiving Unrest at the Worker's Arts and Heritage Centre.
We discussed a chapter from Karen O’Rourke’s Walking and Mapping: Artists as Cartographers, focusing on the political practice of perambulation and critical cartography.
https://wahc-museum.ca/event/reading-groups/
AGH TALKS
Strata Walk: An Introduction to walking and mapping layers of place
Saturday, July 21, 2018
HPU (Donna Akrey, Taien Ng-Chan, and Sarah Truman) gave an introductory talk at the Art Gallery of Hamilton on walking and mapping as a method of creative and social exploration, including a mapmaking session to chart the past, present and future of this very particular site in downtown Hamilton. The findings from this walk were displayed at the AGH as part of Hamilton Now: Object exhibition, and also contributed to the Stratigraphic City (Hamilton) video installation by Taien Ng-Chan, also displayed along with new work by Donna Akrey!
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Strata Walk: An Introduction to walking and mapping layers of place
Saturday, July 21, 2018
HPU (Donna Akrey, Taien Ng-Chan, and Sarah Truman) gave an introductory talk at the Art Gallery of Hamilton on walking and mapping as a method of creative and social exploration, including a mapmaking session to chart the past, present and future of this very particular site in downtown Hamilton. The findings from this walk were displayed at the AGH as part of Hamilton Now: Object exhibition, and also contributed to the Stratigraphic City (Hamilton) video installation by Taien Ng-Chan, also displayed along with new work by Donna Akrey!
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Buoyant Cartographies: alternative mapping practices of the Detroit River
Buoyant Cartographies was a workshop co-hosted by the In/Terminus Research Group (Lee Rodney and Michael Darroch), Float School (Justin Langlois and Holly Schmidt ), and The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan and Donna Akrey), investigating the Detroit River border through strata-mapping and other methodologies. Some of the resulting workshop booklets, maps and videos were exhibited as part of “The Living River Project: Art Water and Possible Worlds” at the Art Gallery of Windsor (curated by Stuart Reid and Patrick Mahon) October 26, 2018 - January 29, 2019.
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Buoyant Cartographies was a workshop co-hosted by the In/Terminus Research Group (Lee Rodney and Michael Darroch), Float School (Justin Langlois and Holly Schmidt ), and The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (Taien Ng-Chan and Donna Akrey), investigating the Detroit River border through strata-mapping and other methodologies. Some of the resulting workshop booklets, maps and videos were exhibited as part of “The Living River Project: Art Water and Possible Worlds” at the Art Gallery of Windsor (curated by Stuart Reid and Patrick Mahon) October 26, 2018 - January 29, 2019.
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Strata-Walking Galway
Presented as part of the conference
Transient Topographies: Space and Interface in Digital Literature and Art
Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 12PM NOON
Meet at the Moore Institute, Hardiman Research Library, National University of Ireland at Galway
HPU Founding member Taien Ng-Chan lead a Strata-Walk around the block in conjunction with an experimental site-specific soundtrack that was made in the 48 hours preceding the conference, and presented a paper on locative media practices as well.
Photo credit: Hannah Ackermans.
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Presented as part of the conference
Transient Topographies: Space and Interface in Digital Literature and Art
Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 12PM NOON
Meet at the Moore Institute, Hardiman Research Library, National University of Ireland at Galway
HPU Founding member Taien Ng-Chan lead a Strata-Walk around the block in conjunction with an experimental site-specific soundtrack that was made in the 48 hours preceding the conference, and presented a paper on locative media practices as well.
Photo credit: Hannah Ackermans.
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Strata-Walk (WAHC Version)
Presented as part of the artist-projects/conference Art & Social Strata
Saturday, March 24th, 2018
10:00-11:30AM
Meet at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre (51 Stuart St, Hamilton)
This public walk and talk takes the area around the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (WAHC), particularly the newly built West Harbour GO Station, and analyzes the social strata that affects this particular place and space. Strata-Walk (WAHC Version) aims to provide participants with strata-mapping skills in order to highlight the different layers of place that make up Hamilton’s fast-changing downtown core.
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Presented as part of the artist-projects/conference Art & Social Strata
Saturday, March 24th, 2018
10:00-11:30AM
Meet at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre (51 Stuart St, Hamilton)
This public walk and talk takes the area around the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (WAHC), particularly the newly built West Harbour GO Station, and analyzes the social strata that affects this particular place and space. Strata-Walk (WAHC Version) aims to provide participants with strata-mapping skills in order to highlight the different layers of place that make up Hamilton’s fast-changing downtown core.
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Friday 20 October, 2017
12:00 NOON
RECONNAISSANCE, HEART+SOUL: THE WINDSOR ARMOURIES
Please join IN/TERMINUS and the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit for a participatory Strata-Walk in downtown Windsor,
as part of the Triennial of Contemporary Art (http://www.agw.ca/exhibitions/upcoming/447)
Meet at the Art Gallery of Windsor.
The metaphor that downtowns have a “heart” or “soul” lends emotional weight to the dense historical and cultural layers that define city life. Our collaboration combines stratigraphic cartography with the military practice of reconnaissance, enquiring into the relationship between the historic military presence in Windsor’s urban centre and current locations of its “heart and soul.” Windsor’s Armouries represent a late 19th/early 20th century civic structure that traditionally occupied the “heart” of the city, representing a form of fortification and security that has lost relevance. Starting from the Armouries (soon the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts), our participatory “strata walks” map ways in which traditional forms of security and surveillance have shifted, disappeared, or morphed into new contexts.
(This project was written up in Canadian Art here: https://canadianart.ca/reviews/windsor-essex-triennial-of-contemporary-art/)
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12:00 NOON
RECONNAISSANCE, HEART+SOUL: THE WINDSOR ARMOURIES
Please join IN/TERMINUS and the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit for a participatory Strata-Walk in downtown Windsor,
as part of the Triennial of Contemporary Art (http://www.agw.ca/exhibitions/upcoming/447)
Meet at the Art Gallery of Windsor.
The metaphor that downtowns have a “heart” or “soul” lends emotional weight to the dense historical and cultural layers that define city life. Our collaboration combines stratigraphic cartography with the military practice of reconnaissance, enquiring into the relationship between the historic military presence in Windsor’s urban centre and current locations of its “heart and soul.” Windsor’s Armouries represent a late 19th/early 20th century civic structure that traditionally occupied the “heart” of the city, representing a form of fortification and security that has lost relevance. Starting from the Armouries (soon the University of Windsor’s School of Creative Arts), our participatory “strata walks” map ways in which traditional forms of security and surveillance have shifted, disappeared, or morphed into new contexts.
(This project was written up in Canadian Art here: https://canadianart.ca/reviews/windsor-essex-triennial-of-contemporary-art/)
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Thursday, April 6, 2017, 4PM - 6PM
“Walking thinking making mapping: mobile research with the HPU”
Department of Art History and Communication Studies Speaker Series
https://www.mcgill.ca/ahcs/channels/event/speaker-series-hamilton-perambulatory-unit-walking-thinking-making-mapping-mobile-research-hpu-265656
McGill University
Arts Building W-215, 853 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC, H3A 0G5, CA
The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit invites you to a performative talk about practices of engaging with urban space, using some of the methods we have devised from our research. During this talk, HPU will give a summary of our past collaborations as well as conduct a short on-the-spot research project with the audience.
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“Walking thinking making mapping: mobile research with the HPU”
Department of Art History and Communication Studies Speaker Series
https://www.mcgill.ca/ahcs/channels/event/speaker-series-hamilton-perambulatory-unit-walking-thinking-making-mapping-mobile-research-hpu-265656
McGill University
Arts Building W-215, 853 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC, H3A 0G5, CA
The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit invites you to a performative talk about practices of engaging with urban space, using some of the methods we have devised from our research. During this talk, HPU will give a summary of our past collaborations as well as conduct a short on-the-spot research project with the audience.
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Residency at WalkingLab
"WalkingLab is an active laboratory for research and development on walking methodologies. It aims to generate a diverse range of walking research related to civic engagement and critical public pedagogy, experiment with different media and mobile technologies, and compose an anarchive that attends to the live, temporal and performative nature of walking research."
http://walkinglab.org/residency/
The HPU spent the summer (and fall) of 2016 in residency at WalkingLab, OISE (University of Toronto)! Donna, Sarah and Taien did further research to expand our methodologies, specifically our “Strata-Walk” technique that identifies the different layers making up place. As participatory workshops, the Strata-Walks function as public pedagogy and relational art, where the emphasis is on the inter-relationships between people and environments, and the creative element does not lie in the making of an object, but in an event. The prompts can be used in groups or by a solo walker. As a method, it focuses on sharpening the mind’s attention to place, as well as the body’s. You can read our contributions to the WalkingLab blog, as well as those of other residents, at http://walkinglab.org/category/residencies/
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Montréal Monochrome IV: STUDY HALL
HPU was invited to give a walk as part of the 4th edition of Montréal Monochrome, which was held April 21-23, 2016 at articule artist-run centre in Montréal. MONTRÉAL MONOCHROME IV: STUDY HALL offered a framework to explore how artistic modes of production can challenge conventional systems of education. It was an opportunity to actively exchange knowledges on alternative, misrepresented and marginalized ways of learning and unlearning.
The theme of this edition signaled a concern with questions about conventional forms and spaces of education, and its intersection with other practices and other modes of cultural production. It indicated a growing interest in a body of artistic production that engages with knowledge production and sites of resistance. By and large, MONTRÉAL MONOCHROME IV: STUDY HALL was an attempt to critically respond to institutionalized education that perpetuates systemic oppression. See some of our documentation at our blog: http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2016/08/strata-walk-montreal-mile-end-version.html
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HPU was invited to give a walk as part of the 4th edition of Montréal Monochrome, which was held April 21-23, 2016 at articule artist-run centre in Montréal. MONTRÉAL MONOCHROME IV: STUDY HALL offered a framework to explore how artistic modes of production can challenge conventional systems of education. It was an opportunity to actively exchange knowledges on alternative, misrepresented and marginalized ways of learning and unlearning.
The theme of this edition signaled a concern with questions about conventional forms and spaces of education, and its intersection with other practices and other modes of cultural production. It indicated a growing interest in a body of artistic production that engages with knowledge production and sites of resistance. By and large, MONTRÉAL MONOCHROME IV: STUDY HALL was an attempt to critically respond to institutionalized education that perpetuates systemic oppression. See some of our documentation at our blog: http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2016/08/strata-walk-montreal-mile-end-version.html
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YULE WALK 2015
You’ve all heard of Christmas food/clothing “drives”; well this is a Yule Walk!
The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (HPU) is walking in your neighbourhood on SUNDAY DECEMBER 2OTH AT NOON collecting donations for The Native Women’s Centre: http://www.nativewomenscentre.com/
and socks hats mitts for The Good Shepherd Men's shelter and Mary's Place women's shelter. You do the donating----we do the walking! But join us for a mid-winter walk too if you can---walk a block, 2 blocks-a mile---whatever you can----and we can walk and talk about all kinds of things!
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You’ve all heard of Christmas food/clothing “drives”; well this is a Yule Walk!
The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (HPU) is walking in your neighbourhood on SUNDAY DECEMBER 2OTH AT NOON collecting donations for The Native Women’s Centre: http://www.nativewomenscentre.com/
and socks hats mitts for The Good Shepherd Men's shelter and Mary's Place women's shelter. You do the donating----we do the walking! But join us for a mid-winter walk too if you can---walk a block, 2 blocks-a mile---whatever you can----and we can walk and talk about all kinds of things!
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Strata-Walk (Victoria Street/Avenue Version)
November 21st, 2015 – The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit led a stratigraphic walk to map the different layers of meanings, stories, and systems that make up a place. With the help of a list of prompts, the HPU explored the urban landscape in three different cities, on three different continents! It took place in Sydney, Australia (where HPU member Sarah Truman led with members of WalkingLab), Windsor (with HPUers Donna Akrey and Taien Ng-Chan as part of Interminus' Stories of the City exhibition opening), and London, England (with composer David Ben Shannon). Each group collectively mapped the "strata" of that street on that date.
See our blog for photos and maps at http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2016/02/strata-walk-victoria-streetavenue.html
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November 21st, 2015 – The Hamilton Perambulatory Unit led a stratigraphic walk to map the different layers of meanings, stories, and systems that make up a place. With the help of a list of prompts, the HPU explored the urban landscape in three different cities, on three different continents! It took place in Sydney, Australia (where HPU member Sarah Truman led with members of WalkingLab), Windsor (with HPUers Donna Akrey and Taien Ng-Chan as part of Interminus' Stories of the City exhibition opening), and London, England (with composer David Ben Shannon). Each group collectively mapped the "strata" of that street on that date.
See our blog for photos and maps at http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2016/02/strata-walk-victoria-streetavenue.html
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LANDLINE
September 27th, 2015 – HPU attended a walking "theatrical performance" called Landline by Adrienne Wong and Dustin Harvey of Secret Theatre. As described on the ticketing site: "Using smartphones, the audience is invited to take an audio-guided experiential tour while texting live with a stranger in a distant city."
See our review of Landline at http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2015/10/landline-walking-with-soundtrack.html
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September 27th, 2015 – HPU attended a walking "theatrical performance" called Landline by Adrienne Wong and Dustin Harvey of Secret Theatre. As described on the ticketing site: "Using smartphones, the audience is invited to take an audio-guided experiential tour while texting live with a stranger in a distant city."
See our review of Landline at http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2015/10/landline-walking-with-soundtrack.html
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Doris McCarthy trail and Plant Pilfering Walk by Donna Akrey
HPU Member Donna Akrey and a pal headed to east side Toronto along side the Scarborough bluffs. There is where there are many trails through the woods and down the steep sandy bluff to Lake Ontario. This trail is on the property of that painter, Doris McCarthy, who lived and worked and then generously donated to the Ontario Heritage Trust to become a retreat for future generations of artists, known as Fool's Paradise. Donna was in search of a handful of plants for her project Plant Life.
See more on the blog: http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2015/10/doris-mccarthy-trail-and-plant.html
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HPU Member Donna Akrey and a pal headed to east side Toronto along side the Scarborough bluffs. There is where there are many trails through the woods and down the steep sandy bluff to Lake Ontario. This trail is on the property of that painter, Doris McCarthy, who lived and worked and then generously donated to the Ontario Heritage Trust to become a retreat for future generations of artists, known as Fool's Paradise. Donna was in search of a handful of plants for her project Plant Life.
See more on the blog: http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2015/10/doris-mccarthy-trail-and-plant.html
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Blizzardy Itinerant Reading Group - HPU doesn't fear cold!
Join the HPU for an ongoing, go-along discussion of texts related to walking, space, place and creativity. Walking incites creativity in writing, so we think it should incite creativity in reading too! Books we’re reading over winter 2015: Street Haunting by Virginia Woolf, Places of Learning by Ellizabeth Ellsworth, Walking and Mapping by Karen O'Rourke.
Reading/Walking Dates:
Thursday February 12th, 2014 (walking area: Dundas City Centre)
Thursday February 26th, 2014 (walking area: Cootes Paradise)
Thursday March 12th, 2014 (walking area: Hamilton Cemetery)
Thursday March 26th 2014 (walking area: Concession Street and Mountain Brow)
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Join the HPU for an ongoing, go-along discussion of texts related to walking, space, place and creativity. Walking incites creativity in writing, so we think it should incite creativity in reading too! Books we’re reading over winter 2015: Street Haunting by Virginia Woolf, Places of Learning by Ellizabeth Ellsworth, Walking and Mapping by Karen O'Rourke.
Reading/Walking Dates:
Thursday February 12th, 2014 (walking area: Dundas City Centre)
Thursday February 26th, 2014 (walking area: Cootes Paradise)
Thursday March 12th, 2014 (walking area: Hamilton Cemetery)
Thursday March 26th 2014 (walking area: Concession Street and Mountain Brow)
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Yule Walk 2014
You’ve all heard of Christmas food/clothing “drives”; well this is a Yule Walk!
The HPU is walking in your neighbourhood on Sunday December 21st, 2014, collecting donations for The Native Women’s Centre:
http://www.nativewomenscentre.com/
To be involved with the Yule Walk, please contact the HPU (hamiltonperambulatoryunit [at] gmail [dot] com) and we will walk to you.
Join us if you like. And if it works just to drop off items for us---let us know and we will send East and West locations to do so.
We will have a cart, and when our cart fills we will commandeer a car and a driver!
We will begin our walk at 12pm in Kirkendall (Dundurn & Aberdeen) on Sunday the 21st. Happy Yule to you all!
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Transportation: Contemplate Campus on Foot
Details: Join HPU Founding Member Sarah E. Truman on a sensory stroll through campus. We’ll begin with a brief introduction to different approaches to walking and contemplation including Chan Buddhist (jingxing) walking and the notion of the flâneur, and then set out on a stroll to appreciate autumn’s colours.
When: Wed., Oct. 22, 2014, 12–1:30 pm
Where: Reading Room (meeting point)
Cost: Free
This is part of Slow Down, a series of free workshops designed to encourage you to dial down the hectic pace of everyday life and create space for mindfulness and balance. http://harthouse.ca/events/campus-on-foot/
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Itinerant Reading Group
Join the HPU for an ongoing, go-along discussion of texts related to walking, space, place and creativity. Walking incites creativity in writing, so we think it should incite creativity in reading too! Books we’re currently reading: The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald, An Attempt at Exhausting A Place in Paris by Georges Perec, Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture by Lisa Robertson and The Critique Handbook by Kendall Buster and Paula Crawford.
Reading/Walking Dates:
Thursday September 18th, 2014 (walking area: James Street to Bayfront Park)
Thursday September 25th, 2014 (walking area: Kirkendall to Chedoke Golf Course)
Thursday October 9th, 2014 (walking area: York to Cannon)
Thursday October 23rd 2014 (walking area: Beasley)
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You’ve all heard of Christmas food/clothing “drives”; well this is a Yule Walk!
The HPU is walking in your neighbourhood on Sunday December 21st, 2014, collecting donations for The Native Women’s Centre:
http://www.nativewomenscentre.com/
To be involved with the Yule Walk, please contact the HPU (hamiltonperambulatoryunit [at] gmail [dot] com) and we will walk to you.
Join us if you like. And if it works just to drop off items for us---let us know and we will send East and West locations to do so.
We will have a cart, and when our cart fills we will commandeer a car and a driver!
We will begin our walk at 12pm in Kirkendall (Dundurn & Aberdeen) on Sunday the 21st. Happy Yule to you all!
--
Transportation: Contemplate Campus on Foot
Details: Join HPU Founding Member Sarah E. Truman on a sensory stroll through campus. We’ll begin with a brief introduction to different approaches to walking and contemplation including Chan Buddhist (jingxing) walking and the notion of the flâneur, and then set out on a stroll to appreciate autumn’s colours.
When: Wed., Oct. 22, 2014, 12–1:30 pm
Where: Reading Room (meeting point)
Cost: Free
This is part of Slow Down, a series of free workshops designed to encourage you to dial down the hectic pace of everyday life and create space for mindfulness and balance. http://harthouse.ca/events/campus-on-foot/
--
Itinerant Reading Group
Join the HPU for an ongoing, go-along discussion of texts related to walking, space, place and creativity. Walking incites creativity in writing, so we think it should incite creativity in reading too! Books we’re currently reading: The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald, An Attempt at Exhausting A Place in Paris by Georges Perec, Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture by Lisa Robertson and The Critique Handbook by Kendall Buster and Paula Crawford.
Reading/Walking Dates:
Thursday September 18th, 2014 (walking area: James Street to Bayfront Park)
Thursday September 25th, 2014 (walking area: Kirkendall to Chedoke Golf Course)
Thursday October 9th, 2014 (walking area: York to Cannon)
Thursday October 23rd 2014 (walking area: Beasley)
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Km2
The HPU's winter project 2014 was entitled Km2 and consisted of 3 different directed walks within a square kilometer of Hamilton's downtown (starting at the Hamilton Artists' Inc.). Each week's event began with an artist talk by the walk leader, who showed some of her work as well as introduced the themes and objectives of the walk.
1. Map Voice Film Poem (led by Taien Ng-Chan)
Map Voice Film Poem explored the city through the microcinema of videos and stories.
2. Flânerie Collect Contemplate Write (led by Sarah E. Truman)
In week 2's Flânerie Collect Contemplate Write, participants strolled within the KM2 as modern day flâneurs and composed written works inspired through the acts of walking and sensory exploration of the city's core.
3. Search Gather Research Make (led by Donna Akrey)
Search Gather Research Make focused on the visual arts and how to forage the city for ideas to realize as art works.
More...
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The HPU's winter project 2014 was entitled Km2 and consisted of 3 different directed walks within a square kilometer of Hamilton's downtown (starting at the Hamilton Artists' Inc.). Each week's event began with an artist talk by the walk leader, who showed some of her work as well as introduced the themes and objectives of the walk.
1. Map Voice Film Poem (led by Taien Ng-Chan)
Map Voice Film Poem explored the city through the microcinema of videos and stories.
2. Flânerie Collect Contemplate Write (led by Sarah E. Truman)
In week 2's Flânerie Collect Contemplate Write, participants strolled within the KM2 as modern day flâneurs and composed written works inspired through the acts of walking and sensory exploration of the city's core.
3. Search Gather Research Make (led by Donna Akrey)
Search Gather Research Make focused on the visual arts and how to forage the city for ideas to realize as art works.
More...
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Synesthesia Walk at Hamilton Farmers' Market
HPU members perambulated through the Hamilton Farmer’s Market with a rough map in hand. Their task was to document the different “scents” they smelled within the market using words associated with another sense modality. Synesthesia is a literary device wherein the writer uses words associated with one sense modality to describe another eg. “loud yellow” (aural/sight), “burning silence” (haptic/aural), “bitter cold” (taste/haptic), “piercing fragrance” (haptic/smell). Lots of poets use synesthesia as a literary technique in their writings - notably, Baudelaire who was also one of the friendly flaneurs! More... |
Googlemap City Center Drift
The Googlemap City Center Drift takes as its starting point the spot where Googlemaps has placed its city marker. How does Googlemaps decide exactly where the center of a city is? Is it according to the city's dimensions? Should it be city hall, the cultural center, the financial center? Where do you think the city center should be? More... |
Mall Walk
Wandering through Jackson Square. Sounds and sentences: http://hamiltonperambulatoryunit.blogspot.ca/2014/02/mall-walk-jackson-square.html |