Dear friends, flaneurs, fantasies and fairies
Welcome to February, I hope you are fine and dandy. I am delighted to spot early signs of Spring…no daffodils yet of course but my heart leaps at the first snowdrops…and the wider changes heralded by people realising their power and reclaiming streets around the world.
Remarkably I think this weekend is the fourth birthday of First Sundays, although dates don't really matter this gives me a warm glow and an excuse for a beer. Heartfelt thanks, as ever, to all who contribute to our derives and those who join us in imagination if not in person. We will be celebrating by setting off in new, and contradictory directions; facing fear (and possibly ridicule, but as we know that’s nothing to be scared of) as we explore territories as yet unmapped by The LRM. Here be dragons? Maybe; we like to encounter mythological phenomena….
This Saturday, February 5th, please join us in Blackburn. It’s your last chance to see Jane Samuels wondrous abandoned shop of curiosities, an instillation exploring urban exploration, mundane hauntings and the places lurking at the edge of reason. The shop has hosted several LRM workshops focusing on people’s memories, feelings and personal maps of Blackburn.
We have collected a plethora of fascinating stories and The LRM are curating a tour based on what we have learnt. From loombreaking, to acid house via contraband bikinis and public art it offers a beguilling mix of personal histories, social context and entertainment. Plus, fans of twentieth century architecture should note Blackburn’s 1960s market is due for demolition soon so this is a final opportunity to revel in its faded glories.
The shop is at LET Shop, 65 King William St, opposite the town hall, about 15minutes from the station (there are hourly trains from Victoria and regular buses from North Manchester. The tour will start at 2pm. Many thanks to Jane, the LETS project and everyone who has generously shared their thoughts with us. More information here: http://www.milliondollaryack.com/GhostStations/
On Sunday 6th we are setting off on an expedition to The Trafford Centre. We have always avoided shopping areas, preferring back alleys and canal sides where we are free of the relentless consumer bombardment – and yet, this is a little remiss if we want to see all sides of our city.
The Dumplington Mecca is one of the north west’s top attractions and is sure to yield some secrets up to those who look. Will we encounter a palace of delights or a den of inequity? Is there anything authentic or liminal to be discovered beneath its bright lights? Is the sense of horror it instils in me justified or am I missing beauty and a retail epiphany? Please note this is NOT a shopping trip and for the duration of our visit handling the merchandise will be strictly forbidden.
We will catch the X50 bus from Manchester Piccadilly at 13:19 (it goes from the main bus station area) which is due to arrive at 13.55. The route map is here http://www.gmpte.com/upload/routemaps/250_X50_Web_only_1110.pdf If you are making your own way there please be at the Trafford Centre bus stop area for 2pm.
If you need more information or fancy a natter about the use and abuse of public space, the nature of contemporary psychogoegraphy or owt else really please contact us at loiter@hepzombie.co.uk or on 07974929589. Email access is a bit wobbly at the moment so please be patient if it takes me a while to respond; I prefer playing out to admin
With glittery love and golden apples
Morag x
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Monday, 24 January 2011
just 10 of many remarkable women
We are in the process of building a super swanky newfangled website; for now i must apologise this isnt great.
Anyhow, here is a wee bit more information on our ten modernist heroines....
Mitzi Solomon Cunliffe (January 1, 1918 – December 30, 2006) was an American sculptor who was a long resident in Didsbury. She was most famous for designing the golden trophy in the shape of a theatrical mask that would go on to represent the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and be presented as the BAFTA award. She also designed the mural on the Heaton Park Pumping Station.
Winifred Brown, Salfordian Flyer and in her early 20’s was winner of the Kings Cup (air race) in 1930.
Rachel Haugh co-established the architectural practice Ian Simpson Associates. She was born and brought up in Manchester and studied at Bath University School of Architecture. She is a founding partner and co-director of Ian Simpson Architects, a design-led architectural practice established in 1987 and employing around 50 people in offices in Manchester and London.
Susan Sutherland Isaacs (1885–1948) was a Bolton born educational psychologist and psychoanalyst. Educated at Manchester and Cambridge Universities, she published pioneer studies on the intellectual and social development of children and promoted the nursery school movement. For Isaacs developing a child’s independence, which is best achieved through play, was the best way for children to learn and the role of adults and early educators was to guide children's play. She was awarded a CBE in 1948.
Marie Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a noted palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of family planning. She was the first woman member of faculty at Manchester University.
Professor Rosalie David is the world's leading expert on Egyptian mummies. She is Director of the Centre for Biomedical and Forensic Egyptology at the University of Manchester and has directed the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Research Project since 1973. This project has pioneered the 'Manchester Method' - the use of medical and scientific techniques to investigate ancient Egyptian mummies to detect evidence of disease and information about everyday life in ancient Egypt. She was the first woman professor in Egyptology in Britain, and the first to receive an OBE in recognition of her services in Egyptology.
Olive Shapley, British radio producer and broadcaster (10 April 1910– 13 March 1999) was a British radio producer and broadcaster. In 1934 she began her career with the BBC as Children's Hour organiser with the responsibility of producing five hour-long programmes every week. These included at least two full-length live plays a week. After the war she became the third presenter of ‘Woman's Hour’, a programme with which she was associated for over twenty years, producing the programme between 1949 and 1953. Meanwhile, she began to develop a career as a presenter in the new television medium. In the mid-1960s her Manchester home became a refuge (as a charitable trust) for single mothers and later, in the late 1970s, for Vietnamese boat people.
Professor Doreen Massey is a Manchester born contemporary British social scientist and geographer, devoting her life to the subject, speaking passionately about the significance of geography and the 'politics of place' in a globalised world. Her work has had a profound influence on theorising around space and place and has taken the study of geography into new inter-disciplinary directions.
Mary Stott (18 July 1907 – 16 September 2002) was a British feminist and journalist, the first - and longest-serving - editor of the Guardian women's page. One of the great campaigning journalists of the 20th century, in her 15-year tenure from 1957 to 1972 she invented a platform for women's voices and concerns and used it to further such causes.
Linder Sterling studied Art at the Manchester School of Art from 1974-77 and played a vital part in the 1970s punk scene in Manchester, designing graphics for the Buzzcocks, Magazine and Factory Records. She remains a pivotal visual artist, performance artist and musician, whose work has been selected for the Tate Triennial.
Anyhow, here is a wee bit more information on our ten modernist heroines....
Mitzi Solomon Cunliffe (January 1, 1918 – December 30, 2006) was an American sculptor who was a long resident in Didsbury. She was most famous for designing the golden trophy in the shape of a theatrical mask that would go on to represent the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and be presented as the BAFTA award. She also designed the mural on the Heaton Park Pumping Station.
Winifred Brown, Salfordian Flyer and in her early 20’s was winner of the Kings Cup (air race) in 1930.
Rachel Haugh co-established the architectural practice Ian Simpson Associates. She was born and brought up in Manchester and studied at Bath University School of Architecture. She is a founding partner and co-director of Ian Simpson Architects, a design-led architectural practice established in 1987 and employing around 50 people in offices in Manchester and London.
Susan Sutherland Isaacs (1885–1948) was a Bolton born educational psychologist and psychoanalyst. Educated at Manchester and Cambridge Universities, she published pioneer studies on the intellectual and social development of children and promoted the nursery school movement. For Isaacs developing a child’s independence, which is best achieved through play, was the best way for children to learn and the role of adults and early educators was to guide children's play. She was awarded a CBE in 1948.
Marie Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a noted palaeobotanist, campaigner for women's rights and pioneer in the field of family planning. She was the first woman member of faculty at Manchester University.
Professor Rosalie David is the world's leading expert on Egyptian mummies. She is Director of the Centre for Biomedical and Forensic Egyptology at the University of Manchester and has directed the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Research Project since 1973. This project has pioneered the 'Manchester Method' - the use of medical and scientific techniques to investigate ancient Egyptian mummies to detect evidence of disease and information about everyday life in ancient Egypt. She was the first woman professor in Egyptology in Britain, and the first to receive an OBE in recognition of her services in Egyptology.
Olive Shapley, British radio producer and broadcaster (10 April 1910– 13 March 1999) was a British radio producer and broadcaster. In 1934 she began her career with the BBC as Children's Hour organiser with the responsibility of producing five hour-long programmes every week. These included at least two full-length live plays a week. After the war she became the third presenter of ‘Woman's Hour’, a programme with which she was associated for over twenty years, producing the programme between 1949 and 1953. Meanwhile, she began to develop a career as a presenter in the new television medium. In the mid-1960s her Manchester home became a refuge (as a charitable trust) for single mothers and later, in the late 1970s, for Vietnamese boat people.
Professor Doreen Massey is a Manchester born contemporary British social scientist and geographer, devoting her life to the subject, speaking passionately about the significance of geography and the 'politics of place' in a globalised world. Her work has had a profound influence on theorising around space and place and has taken the study of geography into new inter-disciplinary directions.
Mary Stott (18 July 1907 – 16 September 2002) was a British feminist and journalist, the first - and longest-serving - editor of the Guardian women's page. One of the great campaigning journalists of the 20th century, in her 15-year tenure from 1957 to 1972 she invented a platform for women's voices and concerns and used it to further such causes.
Linder Sterling studied Art at the Manchester School of Art from 1974-77 and played a vital part in the 1970s punk scene in Manchester, designing graphics for the Buzzcocks, Magazine and Factory Records. She remains a pivotal visual artist, performance artist and musician, whose work has been selected for the Tate Triennial.
News Extra: Blackburn adventures and modernist heroines. Please get involved
Ahoy there my lovelies
The city often feels less of a physical entity and more of a flow of energies, ideas and creativity; sometimes when we are drifting around we collide with some amazing people and The LRM are delighted to be able to share news of a couple of exciting collaborations we are involved in and hope you can join us for
The abandoned shop of curiosities – A Blackburn Adventure
We’ve raved before about the glory of Jane Samuels art; focusing on urban exploration, forgotten and forbidden places and the ghosts that linger, curiously, in our midst it is right up our (derelict and eerily beautiful) street. Jane currently has a residency in Blackburn and we have used her installation as a base to collect personal histories, memories and yarns about the town; these will form the basis of a heritage tour with a twist. Please join us if you can on Saturday January 29th or February 5th (the latter date will be the full, final work so I would encourage coming to that one) 2pm starting at LET Shop 1 65 King William Street, Blackburn. For more details please see http://www.milliondollaryack.com/GhostStations
Also – if you have a favourite spot in Blackburn, or any memories connected to the city, please get in touch as soon as possible
Modernist Heroines – A Collaborative Call out
The LRM are teaming up with our good friends at The Manchester Modernist Society and The Shrieking Violet to invite you to join us in a collaborative project promoting a century of Modernist women to coincide with the hundredth birthday celebrations of International Women's Day on March 8.
We are currently looking for expressions of interest around the theme of ten fabulous females strongly associated with the North West spanning the fields of invention, aviation, media, science, design and architecture in the twentieth century.
We aim to produce a publication and range of activities centred around the lives and careers of our ten local heroines in early March, and are looking for your creative responses. This can be (but is not limited to) an event, performance, piece of creative writing, interview or journalism. Our only stipulation is that the work be about one of our ten local heroines.
Deadline for expression of interest is Friday 28 January — simply indicate your chosen Heroine and an outline of the type of work likely to be submitted. Deadline for final submission of work is Friday 18 February, to allow print and publicity in time for a March event on Sunday 6 March i.e First Sunday)
Please email info@manchestermodernistsociety.org in the first instance with your choice of Fabulous Female and a short summary of the idea you might wish to pursue. Please pass the details onto anyone you think might be interested.
Our ten modernist heroines are as follows (more information about them all can be found at www.nowhere-fest .blogspot.com oh and yes, I know there are myriad other wonderful women who need celebrating every day but please trust us this will be good)
Mitzi Solomon Cunliffe, sculptorWinifred Brown, aviatorRachel Haugh, architectSusan Sutherland Isaacs, educational psychologist and psychoanalyst. Marie Stopes, family planning pioneer and palaeobotanist.Professor Rosalie David Egyptologist.Olive Shapley, radio producer and broadcaster. Professor Doreen Massey, social scientist and geographerMary Stott, journalistLinder Sterling, artist
Also, we bring news of two excellent endeavours which we are whole heartedly supporting. This is a time to connect, stand together and create the future we want….
Open Manchester have organised a debate on 5pm Monday 31st January Open Mic gives you an opportunity to speak your mind about the cuts and reforms to higher education.As well as an open forum for opinions there will be talks from people representing all sides of the debate. All are welcome. More details at http://manchesteropen.wordpress.com/
Queer Riot at the Contact on 12 February offers three hours of outrageous and outraged feminist and queer performers, discussion, workshops and networking. It’s a chance to think about fighting back against the cuts and help create queer culture in a time of austerity. The LRM will be facilitating some kind of workshop around safe/unsafe spaces (more details nearer the time) http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=178453632185388
News of February’s First Sunday will be imminent; expect a derive boldly going where The LRM have never been before.
I hope to see you on the streets soon, for more information on The LRM or any of the above please email loiter@hepzombie.co.uk or call/ text 07974929589
With love, power and early snowdrops
Morag x
The city often feels less of a physical entity and more of a flow of energies, ideas and creativity; sometimes when we are drifting around we collide with some amazing people and The LRM are delighted to be able to share news of a couple of exciting collaborations we are involved in and hope you can join us for
The abandoned shop of curiosities – A Blackburn Adventure
We’ve raved before about the glory of Jane Samuels art; focusing on urban exploration, forgotten and forbidden places and the ghosts that linger, curiously, in our midst it is right up our (derelict and eerily beautiful) street. Jane currently has a residency in Blackburn and we have used her installation as a base to collect personal histories, memories and yarns about the town; these will form the basis of a heritage tour with a twist. Please join us if you can on Saturday January 29th or February 5th (the latter date will be the full, final work so I would encourage coming to that one) 2pm starting at LET Shop 1 65 King William Street, Blackburn. For more details please see http://www.milliondollaryack.com/GhostStations
Also – if you have a favourite spot in Blackburn, or any memories connected to the city, please get in touch as soon as possible
Modernist Heroines – A Collaborative Call out
The LRM are teaming up with our good friends at The Manchester Modernist Society and The Shrieking Violet to invite you to join us in a collaborative project promoting a century of Modernist women to coincide with the hundredth birthday celebrations of International Women's Day on March 8.
We are currently looking for expressions of interest around the theme of ten fabulous females strongly associated with the North West spanning the fields of invention, aviation, media, science, design and architecture in the twentieth century.
We aim to produce a publication and range of activities centred around the lives and careers of our ten local heroines in early March, and are looking for your creative responses. This can be (but is not limited to) an event, performance, piece of creative writing, interview or journalism. Our only stipulation is that the work be about one of our ten local heroines.
Deadline for expression of interest is Friday 28 January — simply indicate your chosen Heroine and an outline of the type of work likely to be submitted. Deadline for final submission of work is Friday 18 February, to allow print and publicity in time for a March event on Sunday 6 March i.e First Sunday)
Please email info@manchestermodernistsociety.org in the first instance with your choice of Fabulous Female and a short summary of the idea you might wish to pursue. Please pass the details onto anyone you think might be interested.
Our ten modernist heroines are as follows (more information about them all can be found at www.nowhere-fest .blogspot.com oh and yes, I know there are myriad other wonderful women who need celebrating every day but please trust us this will be good)
Mitzi Solomon Cunliffe, sculptorWinifred Brown, aviatorRachel Haugh, architectSusan Sutherland Isaacs, educational psychologist and psychoanalyst. Marie Stopes, family planning pioneer and palaeobotanist.Professor Rosalie David Egyptologist.Olive Shapley, radio producer and broadcaster. Professor Doreen Massey, social scientist and geographerMary Stott, journalistLinder Sterling, artist
Also, we bring news of two excellent endeavours which we are whole heartedly supporting. This is a time to connect, stand together and create the future we want….
Open Manchester have organised a debate on 5pm Monday 31st January Open Mic gives you an opportunity to speak your mind about the cuts and reforms to higher education.As well as an open forum for opinions there will be talks from people representing all sides of the debate. All are welcome. More details at http://manchesteropen.wordpress.com/
Queer Riot at the Contact on 12 February offers three hours of outrageous and outraged feminist and queer performers, discussion, workshops and networking. It’s a chance to think about fighting back against the cuts and help create queer culture in a time of austerity. The LRM will be facilitating some kind of workshop around safe/unsafe spaces (more details nearer the time) http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=178453632185388
News of February’s First Sunday will be imminent; expect a derive boldly going where The LRM have never been before.
I hope to see you on the streets soon, for more information on The LRM or any of the above please email loiter@hepzombie.co.uk or call/ text 07974929589
With love, power and early snowdrops
Morag x
Friday, 31 December 2010
Dear friends and comrades in flaneurie
I hope Yuletide has been what you wished and you have enjoyed yourself despite all the consumerist clichés and strange pressures
Please join The LRM on our first First Sunday on 2011 – January 2nd – we’ll be gathering at The Britons Protection Great Bridgewater Street at 2pm. We’ll set off about 2.30 (by which time I hope everyone will have already broken any resolutions borne of guilt and obligation rather than desire and enlightenment) We’ll be utilizing creative cartography to see if we can chart the waters ahead…. Please do join us if you can, it’s a great way to start the year, shake of hangovers and experience the city in new ways with convivial companions.
As the end of year clock ticks it may be a cliché but I can not help but reflect on the period just gone. It has been full of enlightening, inspiring and entertaining encounters on the streets and I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who makes the LRM happen. It is truly a collective endeavor and I feel in awe of so many of the amazing people who contribute in a myriad ways. I raise a glass to you all, it would be a ridiculously long toast to name everyone but you know who you are and I hope you know you have a place in my heart. I will contradict myself, as usual, by adding an extra cheer for Alan – if The LRM believed in such things he would surely be knighted by now.
I’ve always found it boring to talk about the weather but please indulge me a moment. We can’t change what the sky throws at us (climate chaos not withstanding; clearly we have some responsibility here) and I’ve had an epiphany this snowy season. Earlier in the year I let myself become isolated and fearful, all the things I am so fond of condemning at the arrival of the white stuff – but in December I tried embracing the new topography revealed by concealment and derives enforced by drifts. The near became strangely far away as neurological conditions and ice pavements make a terrible mix but I have so many books i want to read and music to listen to i reveled in the hibernation. It felt like a test of whether the loitering philosophy – of going with the flow, celebrating the extraordinary in the everyday and finding the magick in the manunian rain – could be applied to all aspects of life and I truly feel like it can, also my cellar is as disorientating a netherworld as the darkest of engels alleyways…. Staying in is not the new going out but it does have its own rewards!
The flipside to new year nostalgia is of course aspirations for the future and 2011 is already promising to bring new and delightful adventures. February will take us where no loiterers have dared to go before, there are plans afoot for an improved website (we will continue to champion the ephemeral of course but we have gathered many resources to share) and there will be more s with like minded friends….
First up in January we are delighted to have been invited to contribute to a wonderful new project by one of our favourite artists Jane Samuels. The Abandoned Shop of Curiosities is an “ emporium which manifests in abandoned shops; and offers you a window into other, forbidden and unseen abandoned places. The shop invites visitors to interact and explore, to discover strange narratives, and furtive creatures from The Abandoned Buildings Project.
Jane will be holding an open studio throughout the residency, and inviting visitors to contribute to the production and development of new work. The interactive exhibition also invites visitors to share their memories of Blackburn’s now lost or abandoned places, using maps, written notes, drawings or by bringing in objects or photographs.
The LRM will be be making several appearances throughout the residency, exploring the relationship between Blackburn’s official histories, and the personal histories of the people who live there. The LRM will be running mapping workshops on January 15 and 22nd and using the information gained to create two walking tours of the town on 29th January and 5th February”
The shop, exhibition and open studio will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 13th Jan – 5th Februray. I am really excited to enter the magical realm Jane will be conjuring up and urge you to visit if you can. More details are on http://www.milliondollaryack.com/GhostStations/
As ever if you have any comments, suggestions or just fancy a natter do please get in touch via email loiter@hepzombie.co.uk or the LRM hotline 07974929589
Thanks again for your support and I wish you all a 2011 full of joy, creative mischief and happy wanderings. I’m off to crack open the sloe gin
Love and golden satsumas
Morag x
I hope Yuletide has been what you wished and you have enjoyed yourself despite all the consumerist clichés and strange pressures
Please join The LRM on our first First Sunday on 2011 – January 2nd – we’ll be gathering at The Britons Protection Great Bridgewater Street at 2pm. We’ll set off about 2.30 (by which time I hope everyone will have already broken any resolutions borne of guilt and obligation rather than desire and enlightenment) We’ll be utilizing creative cartography to see if we can chart the waters ahead…. Please do join us if you can, it’s a great way to start the year, shake of hangovers and experience the city in new ways with convivial companions.
As the end of year clock ticks it may be a cliché but I can not help but reflect on the period just gone. It has been full of enlightening, inspiring and entertaining encounters on the streets and I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who makes the LRM happen. It is truly a collective endeavor and I feel in awe of so many of the amazing people who contribute in a myriad ways. I raise a glass to you all, it would be a ridiculously long toast to name everyone but you know who you are and I hope you know you have a place in my heart. I will contradict myself, as usual, by adding an extra cheer for Alan – if The LRM believed in such things he would surely be knighted by now.
I’ve always found it boring to talk about the weather but please indulge me a moment. We can’t change what the sky throws at us (climate chaos not withstanding; clearly we have some responsibility here) and I’ve had an epiphany this snowy season. Earlier in the year I let myself become isolated and fearful, all the things I am so fond of condemning at the arrival of the white stuff – but in December I tried embracing the new topography revealed by concealment and derives enforced by drifts. The near became strangely far away as neurological conditions and ice pavements make a terrible mix but I have so many books i want to read and music to listen to i reveled in the hibernation. It felt like a test of whether the loitering philosophy – of going with the flow, celebrating the extraordinary in the everyday and finding the magick in the manunian rain – could be applied to all aspects of life and I truly feel like it can, also my cellar is as disorientating a netherworld as the darkest of engels alleyways…. Staying in is not the new going out but it does have its own rewards!
The flipside to new year nostalgia is of course aspirations for the future and 2011 is already promising to bring new and delightful adventures. February will take us where no loiterers have dared to go before, there are plans afoot for an improved website (we will continue to champion the ephemeral of course but we have gathered many resources to share) and there will be more s with like minded friends….
First up in January we are delighted to have been invited to contribute to a wonderful new project by one of our favourite artists Jane Samuels. The Abandoned Shop of Curiosities is an “ emporium which manifests in abandoned shops; and offers you a window into other, forbidden and unseen abandoned places. The shop invites visitors to interact and explore, to discover strange narratives, and furtive creatures from The Abandoned Buildings Project.
Jane will be holding an open studio throughout the residency, and inviting visitors to contribute to the production and development of new work. The interactive exhibition also invites visitors to share their memories of Blackburn’s now lost or abandoned places, using maps, written notes, drawings or by bringing in objects or photographs.
The LRM will be be making several appearances throughout the residency, exploring the relationship between Blackburn’s official histories, and the personal histories of the people who live there. The LRM will be running mapping workshops on January 15 and 22nd and using the information gained to create two walking tours of the town on 29th January and 5th February”
The shop, exhibition and open studio will be open Thursday, Friday and Saturday 13th Jan – 5th Februray. I am really excited to enter the magical realm Jane will be conjuring up and urge you to visit if you can. More details are on http://www.milliondollaryack.com/GhostStations/
As ever if you have any comments, suggestions or just fancy a natter do please get in touch via email loiter@hepzombie.co.uk or the LRM hotline 07974929589
Thanks again for your support and I wish you all a 2011 full of joy, creative mischief and happy wanderings. I’m off to crack open the sloe gin
Love and golden satsumas
Morag x
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Solstice Communique: What is a derive?
Dear friends, lovers and loiterers
I hope you are keeping warm, positive and open minded in the current challenging conditions. Apologies this email is out of sync with First Sunday but there a few things I wanted to share
Recently I have been questioning the relevance of the derive and been fearful it has become commodified and recuperated by so many that as a tactic is has become meaningless . When the dark times are upon us how can walking help? Have we become nothing more than social ramblers? It is true the term has been misinterpreted, misused and devalued by some utter tosh, much of if very expensive and flashy.
I was feeling sad about this but then, of course, i went for a wander and felt again the rush of excitement at an unexpected view, a serendipitous collision with the path of a friend and then I paused to hear the whispers beneath the roar of Christmas shopping.
Yes! The derive is still a relevant and beautiful tactic but it must be only one of many if we are to create our fantasy city. David Wilkinson made me cheer when he wrote to me “we are never too late, recuperation is never total or infinite. History is a process – (it was said) history was over, capitalism was smooth and efficient and people had forgotten how to fight back, And look where we are now! Student occupations and Len McCluskey make me do silly happy dances. There’s lots of places you can stand within a fundamentally contradictory society, both metaphorically and physically”
Psychogeography is an evolving and rich tradition; it has changed over time and will doubtless change again. The Situationist Internationale still holds an abiding fascination for me. Of course their true power is contested and accessibility, openness and co-operation (which The LRMN strive for) were perhaps not their strongest points. However their echoes resonate, perhaps now stronger than ever with student occupations, the return of the Okasional Café to Manchester (hooray) and roving protests disrupting the spectacle of christmas consumption whist striving to avoid kettles – such protests are nothing if not psychogeographic albeit on an unconscious level amongst the participants.
Possibly my favourite SI work deals with what, for me, is key to true social change – the integration of ideas into a "Revolution of Everyday Life" where everything we do is meaningful; a separate activist class is as damaging as being ruled by a cabinet of millionaires. “People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouths” Raoul Vaneigem.
One of the most elegant descriptions of the derive I have found is by Greil Marcus who says “The point (is) to encounter the unknown as a facet of the known, astonishment on the terrain of boredom, innocence in the face of experience. ..the physical town replaced by an imaginary city” He is clearly a wise man, and not just because he has also eulogised the best (well, my favourite) band in the world
Builing on this The LRM have identified 5 key characteristics that derives have that make them different to a commute or suchlike.
1 It should be spontaneous, directionless, aimless (obviously sometimes we have interpreted this flexibly or we would miss the story telling bit at the end… but we never know how we will get from a to b…we follow the flow and are open to digression, diversion and serendipity)
2 Loitering with us is participatory and everyone has a collective responsibility to look after themselves and each other . It would be disingenuous to say we are non hierarchical but we are open to everyone and anyone can become involved, we are always up for collaboration and will never claim to be offering a definitive version of the city (how could we?)
3 Our walks are non commercial; no one makes a monetary profit. We will never charge because the streets are free and belong to everyone.
4 And yes, this may contradict point one a little bit but so what? We aim to disrupt the banal and find new views; to glimpse the magick in the Mancunian rain and the parallel universes swirling around the city. We want to see remarkable sights and with the right frame of mind we can do so frequently
5 First Sundays are for fun and we want to bring pleasure and convivial company. Stop if you are not happy (some walks of course investigate uncanny or dark atmospheres but still should be a positive experience)
I am not idealistic enough to think this is all it takes to change the world but I do believe loitering makes a contribution on the side of good. I must also stress it is a state of mind and you don’t need the LRM to show you how to derive, we don’t know any more than you do - many of us disagree with much of the above - and in fact actually the most wonderful walks are often solitary.
I should also clarify there is a warm place in my heart for expeditions such as guided walks, especially those borne of passion that tell new stories about the streets, complicate official narratives and help us look afresh at the mundane. For examples of inspiring walks like this just think about Manchester modernist society walking the Mancunian way or Steve Millington reconnecting with Hulme. (there are others too of course)
If you have read this far I am grateful and I also want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped make this such a splendid year for The LRM whether by joining us on the streets or sending virtual inspiration. I wish you all a glorious solstice and whatever you wish the festive season to be.
First Sundays carry on regardless of Yuletide, and I wanted to confirm we will be gathering on January 2nd – more details to follow. we will as ever be marking seasonal changes and abandoning the official path to create new desire lines across the city.
With love and light
Morag xx
PS I just got this email from a first time loiterer who joined after Alan and I spoke to the uni philospophy society about psychogeography ( a talk we hope to reprise for a general audience some time soon) “We had an amazing time. We found a hundred hidden delights and realised that half an hour later we were still only really just behind the pub” above all the derive is an action, a practice, not just a theory so please do come and join us next year
I hope you are keeping warm, positive and open minded in the current challenging conditions. Apologies this email is out of sync with First Sunday but there a few things I wanted to share
Recently I have been questioning the relevance of the derive and been fearful it has become commodified and recuperated by so many that as a tactic is has become meaningless . When the dark times are upon us how can walking help? Have we become nothing more than social ramblers? It is true the term has been misinterpreted, misused and devalued by some utter tosh, much of if very expensive and flashy.
I was feeling sad about this but then, of course, i went for a wander and felt again the rush of excitement at an unexpected view, a serendipitous collision with the path of a friend and then I paused to hear the whispers beneath the roar of Christmas shopping.
Yes! The derive is still a relevant and beautiful tactic but it must be only one of many if we are to create our fantasy city. David Wilkinson made me cheer when he wrote to me “we are never too late, recuperation is never total or infinite. History is a process – (it was said) history was over, capitalism was smooth and efficient and people had forgotten how to fight back, And look where we are now! Student occupations and Len McCluskey make me do silly happy dances. There’s lots of places you can stand within a fundamentally contradictory society, both metaphorically and physically”
Psychogeography is an evolving and rich tradition; it has changed over time and will doubtless change again. The Situationist Internationale still holds an abiding fascination for me. Of course their true power is contested and accessibility, openness and co-operation (which The LRMN strive for) were perhaps not their strongest points. However their echoes resonate, perhaps now stronger than ever with student occupations, the return of the Okasional Café to Manchester (hooray) and roving protests disrupting the spectacle of christmas consumption whist striving to avoid kettles – such protests are nothing if not psychogeographic albeit on an unconscious level amongst the participants.
Possibly my favourite SI work deals with what, for me, is key to true social change – the integration of ideas into a "Revolution of Everyday Life" where everything we do is meaningful; a separate activist class is as damaging as being ruled by a cabinet of millionaires. “People who talk about revolution and class struggle without referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouths” Raoul Vaneigem.
One of the most elegant descriptions of the derive I have found is by Greil Marcus who says “The point (is) to encounter the unknown as a facet of the known, astonishment on the terrain of boredom, innocence in the face of experience. ..the physical town replaced by an imaginary city” He is clearly a wise man, and not just because he has also eulogised the best (well, my favourite) band in the world
Builing on this The LRM have identified 5 key characteristics that derives have that make them different to a commute or suchlike.
1 It should be spontaneous, directionless, aimless (obviously sometimes we have interpreted this flexibly or we would miss the story telling bit at the end… but we never know how we will get from a to b…we follow the flow and are open to digression, diversion and serendipity)
2 Loitering with us is participatory and everyone has a collective responsibility to look after themselves and each other . It would be disingenuous to say we are non hierarchical but we are open to everyone and anyone can become involved, we are always up for collaboration and will never claim to be offering a definitive version of the city (how could we?)
3 Our walks are non commercial; no one makes a monetary profit. We will never charge because the streets are free and belong to everyone.
4 And yes, this may contradict point one a little bit but so what? We aim to disrupt the banal and find new views; to glimpse the magick in the Mancunian rain and the parallel universes swirling around the city. We want to see remarkable sights and with the right frame of mind we can do so frequently
5 First Sundays are for fun and we want to bring pleasure and convivial company. Stop if you are not happy (some walks of course investigate uncanny or dark atmospheres but still should be a positive experience)
I am not idealistic enough to think this is all it takes to change the world but I do believe loitering makes a contribution on the side of good. I must also stress it is a state of mind and you don’t need the LRM to show you how to derive, we don’t know any more than you do - many of us disagree with much of the above - and in fact actually the most wonderful walks are often solitary.
I should also clarify there is a warm place in my heart for expeditions such as guided walks, especially those borne of passion that tell new stories about the streets, complicate official narratives and help us look afresh at the mundane. For examples of inspiring walks like this just think about Manchester modernist society walking the Mancunian way or Steve Millington reconnecting with Hulme. (there are others too of course)
If you have read this far I am grateful and I also want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped make this such a splendid year for The LRM whether by joining us on the streets or sending virtual inspiration. I wish you all a glorious solstice and whatever you wish the festive season to be.
First Sundays carry on regardless of Yuletide, and I wanted to confirm we will be gathering on January 2nd – more details to follow. we will as ever be marking seasonal changes and abandoning the official path to create new desire lines across the city.
With love and light
Morag xx
PS I just got this email from a first time loiterer who joined after Alan and I spoke to the uni philospophy society about psychogeography ( a talk we hope to reprise for a general audience some time soon) “We had an amazing time. We found a hundred hidden delights and realised that half an hour later we were still only really just behind the pub” above all the derive is an action, a practice, not just a theory so please do come and join us next year
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
racists not welcome here
this is in response to something on facebook, and i dont really like cross posting, but it feels too important not to.
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I feel sick and angry but have to share this. I have just banned someone from the group for the first (and I hope only) time. This is because they were spouting poisonous racist EDL shite.
I want to clarify something lest anyone is in doubt: When we say the streets belong to us we mean ALL of us - we the people - regardless of colour, sexuality, gender, class, ability, age, faith and anything else any fuckwit wants to make narrow minded judgements against.
Diversity - and tolerance - is what makes our cities great and racism is just stupid. We have NEVER and will never tolerate narrowminded shite. It has no place in the LRM and if anyone wants to have a go at me for stifling of free speech they can piss off too.
Sorry I had to do that as i have to stress all the loiterers i have ever met in the real world, and have corresponded with online over the years have been lovely, intelligent, openminded folk and we welcome ANYONE who treats others with respect.
much love to you all xxx
**********************************************************************************
I feel sick and angry but have to share this. I have just banned someone from the group for the first (and I hope only) time. This is because they were spouting poisonous racist EDL shite.
I want to clarify something lest anyone is in doubt: When we say the streets belong to us we mean ALL of us - we the people - regardless of colour, sexuality, gender, class, ability, age, faith and anything else any fuckwit wants to make narrow minded judgements against.
Diversity - and tolerance - is what makes our cities great and racism is just stupid. We have NEVER and will never tolerate narrowminded shite. It has no place in the LRM and if anyone wants to have a go at me for stifling of free speech they can piss off too.
Sorry I had to do that as i have to stress all the loiterers i have ever met in the real world, and have corresponded with online over the years have been lovely, intelligent, openminded folk and we welcome ANYONE who treats others with respect.
much love to you all xxx
Friday, 3 December 2010
december's first sunday
please join us 2pm sunday december 5th at john rylands library cafe, from where we shall embark on a spot of disorienteering. Please bring a compass if you have one x
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