[25] Pockets […]

[25] Pockets of [Swansea] |  [25] Pockets of [Cardiff]  |  [25] Pockets of [Bristol] |  [25] Pockets of [Swindon] | [25] Pockets of [Reading] | [25] Pockets of [London] | [25] Pockets of [Oxford] | [25] Pockets of Leamington Spa | [25] Pockets of [Birmingham]

[25] Pockets of [ ] is an interactive dérive and assemblage project. The framed object assemblages are randomly and collaboratively generated through gifts and referrals. Participants give away to the assemblage a possession that is either carried on their person or that is at hand, nearby. They then write on the picture frame the next location and person, or ‘pocket’ for me to visit and extract a further item and referral from.

Items received from participants are attached to the montage.

Positioning of the assembled objects correlates to the locations at which these were obtained so that there is a contextually significant relationship between the objects’ placements to the geographical locations at which they were obtained.

In the manner described above, and with the continuous goodwill and generosity of participants, a visualisation of a city as a social entity and as a dynamic and interacting assemblage of relations is achieved.

By using preconditions of randomness, fixed and selective prejudices in the focus on and presentation of a place are reduced. My role is that of a  privileged explorer, cataloguer and curator: a medium that invites a city to assemble a configuration of itself as a social formation and  interact with, relate, refer and connect to itself through its inhabitants.

My experiences have been varied and engaging. In Oxford, I was sent to meet one of the world’s foremost violin virtuosos: Maxim Vengerov. In Swansea, I was referred to “someone with a cold at Rhossili beach” who in turn sent me to locate a six foot tall blonde woman at an old boozer.  I smile thinking on the many evenings I spent sitting in a Mc Donald’s on the lookout for someone with multi-coloured hair or the time I asked at a climbing centre to meet Tufa, the owner’s husky dog I had been sent to hug.

I enjoyed exploring [25] Pockets of [Bristol] and so after moving to Wales, decided to explore Swansea and Cardiff. Since then, I’ve relocated to Oxford and so explored 25 Pockets of Oxford. Oxford’s location allows me easy access to Reading, Swindon and London and enabled me to set a goal of exploring all the cities situated along the M4 corridor – Swansea, Cardiff, Bristol, Swindon, Reading and London. I’m also visiting other nearby cities such as Leamington Spa and Birmingham.

I keep some account of my wanderings on this website and on a facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/25-Pockets-of/428010350642106?hc_location=stream .

On this site you’ll find links to the various cities I’ve explored or am exploring and I do hope you enjoy following the trail of referrals through the various cities.

See anyone you know?

.