Terminalia - Festival of Psychogeography

Tues 20 Feb. 11:30am. Bath, England: Radical Stroud: Festival of Terminalia

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From http://radicalstroud.co.uk/festival-of-terminalia/
Our peripatetic faithfully followed the words of Professor Judith Asta Thompson and we were also delighted to have a guest appearance from Steve Poole, Chair of the John Thelwall Society.

From Professor Judith Asta Thompson:

If you want to recreate it (I didn't have time last year but will return one day to do so)… he gave his final lecture at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution on February 17 or 18, 1834 (no longer there, destroyed in the Bath Blitz of 1942, but it was downtown near the Parade Gardens, Manvers and Pierrepont Sts.). The lecture (one of his regular series on “Oratory and Elocution of the Bar, Pulpit and Senate, illustrated by appropriate Readings and Recitations; and by sketches, critical, characteristic and biographical”) started at 2 p.m. and ran for the usual 2 hours.
Afterwards (I expect he had dinner with friends first) he headed up Sion Hill to Winifred House, the school & home of his regular host in Bath, the Rev. William Hutchins (another victim of the Bath Blitz, it is now Bath Spa University, fittingly!) Google tells me it's a 35-minute walk, and it must have been lovely. In my vignette, his friends urge him to take a sedan- or bath-chair (he'd had a fall in 1830), but with his usual peripatetic stubbornness, he insists he is perfectly capable of walking, and uses the occasion to think over his life's journey. Later, in the dead of night, he stirs, then dies of “some affection of the heart.” He was not quite 70.

WE PLAN TO MAKE THIS AN ANNUAL EVENT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN THELWALL'S DEATH ON FEBRUARY 17

Radical Stroud intend to contribute to the Festival of Terminalia with a visit to Bath and John Thelwall's gravestone. We shall then recreate the events of Citizen John's last lecture and his death as we slip down wormholes of time. This Terminalia Festival walk will follow in the wake of literary, historical and political topographers - in the words of Lee Jackson in Dickensland, “Literary tourism has itself been described as 'necromanticism' - a ghostly communion with the dead author and their work – the real world haunted by the ghosts of fiction."

Meet outside the main door of Bath Abbey at 11.30. We shall then walk to Walcot Churchyard; thence to the site of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (no longer there, destroyed in the Bath Blitz of 1942, but it was near the Parade Gardens, Manvers and Pierrepont Streets.). This is where Thelwall gave his final lecture. We then saunter up Sion Hill to Winifred House, the school & home of his regular host in Bath, the Rev. William Hutchins (bombed in WW2; now Bath Spa University); this will take about 35 minutes.

This happened in late February 1834. Thelwall died, not quite seventy, on the night following his last lecture. Professor Judith Asta Thompson comments: 'In his youth he had made a deal with his friend, Dr. Astley Cooper, that he would let him have his heart for scientific purposes (Thelwall's heart beat so loud that it could be heard by passers-by in the street). This seems not to have happened. Maybe you can still hear it ...'

Meet outside the main door of Bath Abbey at 11.30. For more details see the Festival of Terminalia page on Radical Stroud

Tues 20 Feb. 18:00 - 20:00. London. Tere Chad: "Calvino's Walk"

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Tere writes:

We started on the doorsteps of Bermondsey Project Space, near 6 noon. A group of around 10 people gathered, between curious members of the audience and exhibiting artists of "Transparent As A Dragonfly" ArtCan and Arte Borgo exhibition. We headed south through Bermondsey Street and then turned to the left in Saint Mary Magdalene Churchyard. As someone who grew up in South America with a strong Catholic influence, it always surprises me how open and accessible graveyards are in the Anglo-Saxon world...

...As I guided the walk, I invited the group for a pause in different angles that called up our attention. As we stopped, I read fragments of "Transparent As A Dragonfly"'s catalogue, which included quotes from Invisible Cities book by Italo Calvino. I would read it both on Italian and the English translation, as each of the guests decided to respond to the moment in different ways. Hedy Parry-Davies brought some paper and crayon to document different textures of the sites, Elly Platt was embroidering, and the rest would listen, comment upon the fragment and views or take pictures. What amused us the most was that the quotes seemed to match and describe each angle we were standing on. We couldn't figure out whether Calvino's abstract writing responds to any site and any imaginable city, or if it was just a coincidence and we were following the right path to continue the walk...

... For a walk which was hosted in the middle of the winter, we were quite lucky with the weather as we did not catch any drop of rain of London's capricious forecast... But more than pointing out how lucky we were with the weather (which is always worth highlighting), what stays with me from this walk, is how the act of walking collectively with a group which makes pauses to experience different spots and views, opens up scenarios of light through the mist to unveil the unimaginable, in the same way Italo Calvino's verses take you into invisible cities that maybe live within us, but we never give them a space to enlighten our everyday routines.

Read Tere's full review here (PDF) TERMINALIA FESTIVAL: A REVIEW ON CALVINO'S WALK

Calvino's Walk: an ‘artist walk' facilitated by Tere Chad as a teaser for the Arte Borgo / ArtCan joint upcoming show ‘Transparent as a Dragonfly” at Bermondsey Project Space, which launched in October 2023 in Rome before travelling to London.

Curators Anna Isopo and Martina Scavone of Arte Borgo with Lesley Bunch and Rita Carta Manias of ArtCan invited artists to choose a line, passage or chapter from ‘Invisible Cities', and propose works in response to it to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Italo Calvino's birth. The title for the exhibition is taken from a passage in Calvino's Invisible Cities:

Perhaps everything lies in knowing what words to speak, what actions to perform, and in what order and rhythm; or else someone's gaze, answer, gesture is enough; it is enough for someone to do something for the sheer pleasure of doing it, and for his pleasure to become the pleasure of others: at that moment, all spaces change, all heights, distances; the city is transfigured, becomes crystalline, transparent as a dragonfly.

The walk taking place on Tuesday 20th February 18 - 20hrs, will begin at the entrance of Bermondsey Project Space (183, 185 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3UW) as a psychogeography exercise inviting further reflection on Calvino's Invisible Cities. Invisible Cities is a book that carries you along on travels to imaginary cities, and the aim of the walk is to extend this journey to different locations of our millenary city London. Attendees just need to bring their sketchbooks to respond to different passages of Invisible Cities that are going to be read in Italian and English at different locations of South London. Attendees to the walk will be invited to do draw sketches responding to the city and fragments of the book using the hashtags: #Terminalia #TransparentasaDragonfly #ArtCan

To attend, please follow the link to Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transparent-as-a-dragonfly-exhibition-calvinos-walk-tickets-821283409787

Fri Feb 23rd. 10:00am. Tirana, Albania. Arba Bekteshi: "Te Liqeni (At the lake)"

This mapping exercise performs against the instrumentalization of green spaces and the multispecies lives they host.
Tirana's Park Lake is the quintessential example of second nature, - a man-made environment that retains the qualities of green spaces, but simultaneously very curated to accommodate the different needs of the city's inhabitants. It is the single big green space in the city of Tirana and can get pretty overpopulated pretty fast, especially on holidays. The people that visit the park most often are runners and walkers that get in and out as quickly as they can. Few might stop in one the overpriced coffee bars. Through a psychogeographical walk and map drawing exercise this event aims to shift the everyday visitor's perspective of the Park.

Arba Bekteshi will perform a psychogeographical mapping of the Tirana Lake Park. People are welcome to join and can contact her at arba.bekteshi[at]gmail.com, or on WhatsApp at +355676280369. The walk begins at Entrance number 2, 10:00 am.

Fri Feb 23rd. 10:00am. Bristol, England. Radical Admin Collective. "Storm Stroll"

A gentle walk over grass and through trees where we will find a place to set up our storm kettle and brew tea while taking in the overview of South of Bristol

Meet 10 am Golf Course Car Park Ashton Court, Bristol
What 3 words ///magic.photos.habit
Please bring:
Sensible shoes
Warm Clothes
Waterproof if it's raining
Water to go in the storm kettle (or bring your own kettle/flask)
A mug
Your preferred teabag.
Any snacks you may require.

We will be finished by midday.
Your guides will be Bee and Lucy of The Radical Admin Collective. We are advocates of radical work, rest and play.

Fri Feb 23rd. 10:00am. Kent, England. Thread and Word: Push Me Pull You: A Walk for Terminalia

Our Push Me Pull You Walk is a walk that looks two ways. We will walk with the past in front of us and the future behind us.

We will use a walking deck of cards, A Refracted View. These were written in 2021 with East Kent Mencap members who are adults with learning disabilities and were supported by artists from Thread and Word. These prompts give us an opportunity to explore our different perspectives across time.

The Push Me Pull You walk for Terminal 2024, will trigger memory and tinker with our imaginations as we walk together. As we push or pull through the boundaries of time, our materials are people and place, our stories crafted through a creative deck of walking prompts written in 2021 will now be documented through photo journaling by people from East Kent Mencap in 2024.

The focus of this walk is sustainability; environmental and social. In 2024 the people from East Kent Mencap, with Thread and Word, will create a photo journal that continues to push and pull at the boundaries of time.

Please meet at the East Kent Mencap Herne Bay Hub on February 23rd at 10.00 am
For more about East Kent Mencap: https://www.eastkentmencap.co.uk
ThreadAndWord

Fri Feb 23rd. 12pm. Waseley Hills, Birmingham. Walkspace: "Walking the Watershed"

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Josh and Andy write:

© Josh Allen

Walking the Severn/Trent Watershed : Windmill Hills toposcope handily aligns with the Severn/Trent Watershed. As a cultural and historical appreciator of watersheds, rather than a geographical, geological and hydrological one, I had naturally assumed that crudely speaking water falling on the southern flank of Windmill Hill would eventually run into the Severn via the Stour. While water falling on the northern slope would flow via the initial conduit of the Rea into the Trent. As Walkspace member Robson observed things are not so simple, rather both the Rea and the Stour initially flow north, albeit one towards the east into Birmingham and the other to the west through the southwestern Black Country....

© Josh Allen

...After a late lunch, Andy recounted the legend of St. Kenelm outside the church's porch, before the watershed walking party made its way down to the well behind the church which is the source of the River Stour. Here there was another psychogeographical ceremony, featuring a sheep skull (providentially discovered in a tree during the walk), spreading of flowers, and a recital of the names of the settlement which the water bubbling from the well would flow through on its way to the sea. A jar half filled with water from the River Rea was dipped into the well to capture water destined for the Stour too...

Delightful video summary of the walk © Simon Jefferies

Read more at Walkspace: From Rea to Stour: Walking the Severn/Trent Watershed or on the Walk Midlands website

A geographical quirk of living in the middle of the country is that half of our rivers flow northeast towards the Humber estuary and the other half flow southwest towards the Bristol Channel. The natural boundary that separates the two catchments is called a watershed. In the West Midlands the watershed lies along the ridge of the Lickey, Waseley, Clent and Rowley hill ranges. Rainwater that falls on the eastern side of these hills ends up in the North Sea via the Trent, whereas rain landing on the western side ends up in the Atlantic Ocean via the Severn.

For Terminalia 2024 we will celebrate this quietly mind-blowing water boundary by walking from the source of the river Rea to the source of the river Stour. The river sources are only 2.5 miles apart but the Rea springs on the east face of the hills and the Stour springs on the west so the two water courses have drastically different journeys, ultimately reaching the sea over 200 miles apart.

Josh Allen of Walk Midlands (and co-facillitator of this walk) argues that the watershed also forms a significant cultural boundary between the rural southern Midlands, "a land of Morris Dancers, part-timbered buildings, ancient earthworks, 12th Century churches and cider orchards", and the industrialised northern Midlands, "pockmarked by former collieries and industrial sites, redeveloped as warehouses, retail parks and Barrett houses". This is reflected in the very different mythologies associated with the two waters: the Rea as Birmingham's founding river, and the Stour's role in the fantastical legend of St. Kenelm, Prince of Mercia.

Meet Andy and Josh outside the visitor centre of the Waseley Hills Country Park (B45 9AT) at 12pm, Friday 23rd February. No need to book, just turn up. This is a four mile walk finishing up at Hagley Road on the southwest tip of Halesowen (B63 1DT).
This is a walk in the hills so be prepared for some steep sections and muddy conditions. Walking boots advised! Bring a packed lunch and some water. Due to the time of year we can't recommend ritual bathing but feel free to bring a votive offering of some sort. We aim to be finished by 3pm.
Queries to: walkspace.uk@gmail.com

Fri Feb 23rd. 13:00pm. Gloucestershire, England. Radical Stroud: A walk around Brimpsfield and a visit to the upper reaches of the river Frome.

The theme for 2024 is “Time”. Radical Stroud will explore this by visiting Brimpsfield, a small Cotswold village with a remarkable past. We will pass the site of Brimpsfield Castle, the seat of the Giffard family for about 200 years, it was demolished on the orders of Edward II in 1322 and has been just a mote and mound of rubble for the last 700 years. Adjacent to the castle site is the Church of St Michael which dates from the 12th century.

We will also consider the boundaries aspect of Terminalia by descending the valley of the upper reaches of the river Frome. Brimpsfield is close to the Great British Watershed. All the waters near Brimpsfield flow to the Frome and then west into the Bristol channel. A short distance away over the high ground, all the waters flow into the river Churn, and east to the Thames.
In the valley we will pass the site of an early Norman Motte (predating the castle) before returning to the village.

13.00 – 15.30. Distance - approximately 3.5km
Terrain – flat and level in the village, a descending footpath in the valley and a short ascent via a bridal way. The footpath may be muddy.
Meet at Brimpsfield Village Hall -free parking but a donations to the upkeep of the hall are welcome (donation box on site) ///clef.fancy.wicked SO 93859 12782 East 393858 North 212781
Bring refreshments. None are available in the village. Unfortunately Brimpsfield is not accessible by public transport.

Fri Feb 23rd. 4pm-5.30pm: Edinburgh, Scotland. Tamsin Grainger: "You said go slow ... time after time"

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Tamsin writes: At the edges of pavements, the walls of dilapidated buildings, the join between the land and the sea, and between homed and homeless, we wandered to mark the Festival of Terminalia on 23 February 2024.

The group, some from inside, some outside the Granton Boundary

We walked a route familiar to some and unfamiliar to others, according to a path previously visited 4 months earlier in order to make comparisons. Mapping as we went, we strayed off that path occasionally, moved across the boundary several times when the sea or a plant drew us, and noted changes wrought in the natural and urban landscape over such a short time.

Along the bread line, the coast line, and the invisible lines between here and there, and us and other, we walked. It’s a time of great change in this area: trees taken down, blocks of flats going up, buildings repurposed and roads renamed (no-one knows why, though we suspect so-called ‘gentrification’).

Read the full article at https://walkingwithoutadonkey.com/2024/03/12/terminalia-24/

A Granton Boundary walk was made in the Autumn of 2023, in advance of the opening of the Walking Like a Tortoise exhibition at the Granton:hub. It invited people to walk slowly together with a paper map, and annotate that map with places of interest (objects passed, thoughts thought, feelings felt, sites appreciated or not). We meandered, responding to participant's interest, to their prior knowledge of the area, and to our whim. This might happen again! It was followed by a standing-up discussion and sharing of maps outside the building.

I propose a (repeat) Midwinter walk around the same edgeland, as the evenings lighten, and I invite those who still have their maps to bring them and make comparisons. I will bring the ones I was given after the original walk and hand them back to you for the purpose.
This time, after a brief introduction, we will walk together and have the opportunity to chat about borders and territories.
The immediate area around Madelvic House has changed considerably, as has the Gasholder (now partially wrapped up) and the harbour, and therefore the new maps created will be likely to chart those changes, together with that of the seasons, and the alterations in us and the environment during the past quarter year.
You are welcome, whether you were there before or not.
Afterwards we will go inside the Granton:hub for drinks and snacks to discuss in the warm.

Starting and ending at the Granton:hub, Madelvic House, Granton Park Avenue, EH5 1HS.
This will be an inclusive walk, so we will pace ourselves accordingly. It will mostly be on pavements. Please wear suitable clothing for the weather and bring water with you.

Tamsin Grainger is a wanderer and psychogeographer. She has nomadic habits and is very often found in the marginal areas around her Granton home. She is a qualified walk leader with Paths for All, Scotland, and likes to perambulate with Ageing Well group who belong to Victoria Park in Edinburgh. She has been writing, walking and making art about boundaries for quite a few years now.
Tamsin will be making a short video based on this event and last year's as part of Kel Portman's A Provocation (see below).
Book through Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-walk-you-said-go-slow-time-after-time-tickets-816011381007

Fri 23 Feb. 5.30pm Bisceglie, Italy. Bernado Bruno. "Actuality of the Ancient" 1

Terminalia 2024_I
The festival will take place over three days with 3 events
(click for full size pdf)
There is a road that leads to the Laurentian Fields, once the territory entrusted (by fate) to the Trojan leader Aeneas: "At the sixth milestone of the city, a woolly sheep was sacrificed to you, O god Terminus". Ovidio “Fasti” The "Terminalia Festival", dedicated to Jupiter Terminus, the god of boundaries. It is a festival of ancient Rome. It was held every year on February 23 to coincide with the end of the calendar year. The Terminalia was introduced by Numa Pompilius, who first divided and assigned the lands of the city. The Romans understood that the stability of land boundaries was the only way to maintain peace among landowners. On the other hand, it was the creation of a furrow that determined the birth of Rome, a boundary violated by Remus that unleashed the murderous wrath of Romulus. The Italian Terminalia Festival has been held in Puglia since 2017. Each year, a theme is taken up and discussed in the form of a symposium with experts and scholars. In parallel, we reappropriate urban spaces, turning them into stages for rituals of immersive crossings between history and contemporaneity. The paths are changeable, known or little known. Along the paths we perform ritual actions involving all participants.
This year's theme is "ACTUALITY OF THE ANCIENT". The concept of the "classical" as a message conveyed by the ancients is not so far removed from what modernity has produced. In fact, it is closer to the themes of a radical modernism than to the various declensions of classicism, which is obsessed with the supposed ability to rediscover the classical. In short, radical modernism, which could be identified in that cultural temperament that runs in architecture from the mechanization of the German Werkbund to the most extreme deconstructivism, is only part of the cyclical reflection on which antiquity acts: the balance between continuity and discontinuity. Classicism is not a culmination of stylistic maturation, but rather a cyclical state of aesthetic consolidation that finds in this culmination only its temporary historical conclusion. It is around this tendency between antiquity and modernity that a point of momentary stabilization must be found and shared in order to escape the barbarity of an infinite universe of signs.

Introduced by Bernardo Bruno (president of the Terminalia Festival)

THE FUTURE OF ANTIQUITY IN ARCHITECTURE
Antonio Carbone ( publisher of "EDIZIONI LIBRIA") in conversation with Mario Pisani (editor of "Abitare la terra")

CLASSICAL AND MODERN IN ASIA
Giacinto Cerviere (Vortex_A studio), Art Director of Terminalia 2024, in conversation with (Hanoi Architectural University, From Vietnam live streaming)

THE SACRED AND ARCHITECTURE
Giorgio Skoff (Archietica) in conversation with Lorenzo Netti (Netti architetti)

TUPPUTI PALACE 5.30 PM Bisceglie
More details on the website https://terminaliafestival.blogspot.com or email terminalifestival@gmail.com or download the press release for the Terminalia Festival 2024 in Bisceglie

Fri Feb 23. Kel Portman: A Provocation

A provocation:

On February 23rd take a walk along a boundary.
It can be circular or linear
It can be of any size you chose
It could range from a walk along the boundary between countries, counties or property.
It could be a walk around the boundary of your local park, garden, your living room or tent
It could mark the edge of a desert, a river or the sea,
It could be the boundary of your own comfort zone

Make a piece of work in response to this in any medium you wish, from just the walk to mark making; from to video, to the written or spoken word
Work will be chosen from a final number of 15 artists, then assembled into a short video presentation

Videos: The video format is 1920x1080 pixels landscape.Please recognise that photographs, drawings etc will need to fit this size
Videos and voice recordings: Videos and voice recordings should be no longer that 2 minutes
Written Word: Please be aware that video isn't best medium for reading lengthy text. Each screen can contain around 60 words which will take about 25 seconds to read - so please limit your work to 4 screens worth
Statements: Please include a brief statement of no more than 50 words. Include your location at the bottom of your text - this can be in the form of your general location... (Mine is Edge, Stroud, Gloucestershire UK). You could also include a map reference or if you feel particularly adventurous try using your location from what3words.com. Include a map, either a formal, official map like Ordnance Survey, or one of your own making.

Please get back to me (kel@artworks.eu.com) if you'd like to participate or have questions
There's no entry fee for the provocation - just enjoy it!

Fri 23 Feb. Sonia Overall: Solo Performance: "Ghost Wall Walk for Terminalia "

Writer and psychogeographer Sonia Overall will walk a ritual circuit of the ancient cinque port of Sandwich, Kent to mark the year's festival of boundaries and landmarks. Follow Sonia's walk, joining the remains of the town's walls and medieval gates and marking the sites of those lost, on Twitter (X) @soniaoverall #Terminalia.

Fri Feb 23. Patrick Ford: Solo Performance: "40 Minute Diameter Leeds"

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Patrick has a write up about the performance. Read more and see more photos at his blog post about 40 Minute Diameter Leeds

A rainbow above Echo Central following a shower

Ambassador House, former home of the Environmental Health Services

A fallen tree in Blenheim Park...the latest, unplanned addition to the children's playground facilities

On Friday 23rd February, Patrick will walk a roughly circular route around Leeds in West Yorkshire to mark the occasion of the year's incarnation of the annual Terminalia Festival 2024.

To mark the festival this year, Patrick will walk the larger route of a walking web he made in Leeds for a project presented by Mathilda Guerin at the 2022 4th World Congress of Psychogeography. Patrick created a map indicating way points representing the location reached after walking 10 & 20 minutes North, South, East and West.
For Terminalia 2024, Patrick will walk a clockwise, circular route, linking up all of the 20 minute way points, beginning at the Sheepscar junction, north of the city centre.

For more details on this solo performance please visit the page https://www.patricksford.com/performance-1

Feb 23. MR H: Terminalia 2024: "The Cherry Hinton-Fulbourn Interzone"

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Mr H took part in a solo drift around Cherry Hinton, Cambridge.

On the morning of Terminalia, Friday 23rd February, I placed my foot into the depression in the stone that sits in the Robin Hood car park, now unceremoniously wedged between a post and a fence. The stone has existed in the car park for as long as I can recall. It is said variously to be glacial erratic, a base of a cross or post of some kind, a kingship stone and, most appropriately for today, a 'marching' stone used by Romans. It is said that such stones were used by the Romans before setting off on a long march. Placing the foot in the depression at the beginning and end of a journey was said to bring good luck. 'pro itu et reditu' ('For the journey, and the return') was apparently inscribed into such stones (but not this one as far as I could see).

Marking this threshold from old to new Cherry Hinton was a green utilities box, featuring the Cambridge Heron, further out of town that I'd seen it before and with less of an air of 'official' street art about it than it has in most places these days. Accompanying it was a monkey face and the 'Poxy' tag, both of which seemed much more fitting with Cherry Hinton. The faces of the Heron and Monkey both faced East, towards Fulbourn as if they were pioneers, occupying frontier territory.

One of the last features that came from a time when Chery Hinton was still recognisable as a village had been demolished some months earlier. The building had been left to decay and had stood empty for some time, the ghosts of jumble sales, club meetings, nursery classes and 1980s mod revival discos almost tangible in its fabric. It was being replaced with what looked like some raised beds and features that indicated the coming of a community garden... Either way, with even the smallest parcel of land being snatched up for 'development opportunities' throughout the city, this was a more welcome sight than what I had imagined might have been. The long standing liminal space was moving into a new phase, crossing the temporal boundary to an uncertain near future.

Read the full write up Terminalia 2024: The Cherry Hinton-Fulbourn Interzone on perambulatoryramblings.blogspot.com

Sat 24th Feb. 11:00am Leeds. Deirdre Macleod & Clare Charnley: "Clockstop: in your own time and space"

Have you got an old watch somewhere that stopped long ago? Don't change the battery or wind it back up! Wear it to "Clockstop: In your own time and space". Come and join the dots between the stopped clocks of central Leeds and, together, spend some time away from time.

Meet in front of the Grand Arcade clock (between North Briggate and Vicar Lane) just before the clock strikes 11am. We'll find our way between stopped clocks, avoiding the sight of working clocks.

‘Clockstop' will last for approximately for one hour. Optional coffee and chat afterwards.
Stopped watches can be provided if you don't have one.

Sat 24th Feb. 13:00pm Leeds. Tim Waters: "An AI Image Adventure for Terminalia"

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Tim has a write up about the event.


PROMPT "You are an advertising copywriter obsessed with puns. Describe this image with advertising speech. Finally suggest a direction"

Step right up and bask in the glow of Urban Oasis! Where the sun-drenched streets are brimming with potential and the shopping deals are as bright as the sunlight filtering through the clouds.
Here, every step is a journey toward retail radiance. So why just meander when you can promenade with purpose?
✨ Breeze through your shopping list with the ease of a cloud crossing the sky, hopping from store to store as you soak up the savings. Be the savvy shopper who knows a gleaming opportunity when they see it!
👟 Whether you're on two feet or two wheels, there's a lane that's calling your name. Follow the path that's paved with golden rays and discover a world bursting with urban excitement.
🤝 Gather your fellow pathfinders and parade down this bustling boulevard, where every shadow points to a new adventure and every light leads to a discovery.
Now, don't pedal off into the sunset just yet—there's still much to explore. To the horizon and beyond, let these streets be your gateway to shopping spree splendor.
What are you waiting for? Take the direction where the sunlight leads, and you'll find the treasures that await! 🌟🛍️

With time on our mind in small groups we will take photos and upload them to a custom ChatGPT bot and it will interpret the images and tell us what to and where to go. You are free to obey all directions, disobey all directions, use your own judgement, or pretend to upload the image and interpret it yourself!
ChatGPT is a Large Language Model, it is able to read in input from a person and respond according to what the underlying model computes is the most likely next thing it should see. The service has recently added the ability to interpret images and respond to the content within the image.
It is limited in what it can do and it's geographical knowledge is poor. Because the model has been trained in texts describing derives, playful and experimental walking and psychgeographical theory etc, it might be able to produce interesting suggestions of what to do based on what we show it.
To get us in the right frame of mind, we will meet at the oldest church in Leeds, below a sun dial and some thoughtful text. Bonus points if you visit one or more of the old stones.
This was inspired by the "ChatGPT Figures Out Huddersfield" event of 2023.

Meet at 1pm outside the entrance to St Johns Church in central Leeds. Should be finished by 2.30pm.
If you wish to use the bot, you will need to install Telegram messenger and have data and credit to upload images.
Just turn up, for more details or questions see the facebook event page

Sat 24th Feb. 14:00pm. Merseyside. T.U.S.K: "Ingore These Objects"

The 18th century astronomer Charles Messier was interested in hunting for comets. In his search he kept discovering other blurry objects in the sky that weren't comets. To prevent himself being confused by these objects should he see them again, he created a list of them. Eventually he itemised 110 astronomical objects which are known as the Messier Catalogue. Essentially these were things he was not interested in, he had created a catalogue of objects to be ignored.
Toxteth University of Surrealist Kinetics (T.U.S.K.) wondered if there might also be objects that could be ignored on Planet Earth. The process of finding them is to overlay a chart of all 110 Messier Objects onto a map and for intrepid explorers to go to the places where the objects appear and to catalogue them.

The first map was overlaid on Toxteth and the ignorable objects were discovered. See the results at tusk.org.uk
The second map will be overlaid on Birkenhead with the centre on Bidston Observatory.

Meet at Bidston Observatory at 2pm. We won't be finding all 110 objects in one session but we'll do the cluster on the hill as a start.
Email: ignore.these.objects@gmail.com

Sat 24th Feb. 5:30pm. Bisceglie, Italy. Bernado Bruno. "News of the Ancient" 2 "They intervene"

Terminalia 2024_II
The festival will take place over three days with 3 events
(click for full size pdf)

Introduction by Bernardo Bruno
Speakers: - Matteo Losapio (theologian and urban philosopher), THE TERMINAL GOD AND THE NECROPOLIS - Francesca De Santis (Latin teacher), THE TERMINUS GOD

Church of Santa Margherita 5.30 pm Bisceglie
More details on the website https://terminaliafestival.blogspot.com or email terminalifestival@gmail.com
or download the press release for the Terminalia Festival 2024 in Bisceglie

Sun 25th Feb 10am. Bisceglie, Italy. Bernado Bruno. "Passeggiata Peripatetica Intorno Al Cimitero Momumentale"

Terminalia 2024_III

A line, a border wall divides the city of the living from that of the dead.
Peripatetic walk around the Monumental Cemetery of Bisceglie
Reading of passages from The City of the Dead (Italo Calvino)
The Spoon River Anthology (Edgar Lee Master)
Speakers: - Bernardo Bruno (president of the Terminalia Festival) - Daniela Salerno (architect) - Gianfrancesco Todisco (historian)

Bisceglie Monumental Cemetery 10am
More details on the website https://terminaliafestival.blogspot.com or email terminalifestival@gmail.com
or download the press release for the Terminalia Festival 2024 in Bisceglie

Sun 25th Feb. 10:00am: Online: #DistanceDrift for Terminalia

Follow the hashtag #DistanceDrift on Twitter (X) for a Terminalia walking score posted at 10am, and to share your responses. Walk together connecting online in real time, or join asynchronously at any point after the event.

Sun 25th Feb. 14:00pm. London and wherever you are. Walking beyond words: "The Walk is a Heartbeat"

The Grand Union Canal is the artery feeding this walk. We listen for hearts that resonate with ours, developing receptors that can detect unhuman beats in this city landscape. Each heartbeat is an opening for new possibilities.

Starting in Little Venice and walking to Primrose Hill we follow a waterway which once upon a time fed the capital in numerous ways. Nestled in and weaving though the urban landscape the canal is a conduit for life-giving minerals, micro-organisms, nutrients that blend into our being. We pass historic homes and modern industrial architecture that has been crafted from the earth. When the canal disappears underground, we walk above it through the city bustle and join the myriad chorus of heartbeats. In Regents Park we disperse for a time of attentive walking and re-gather before the assent to Primrose Hill to gaze back over the city.
You may join the communal walk in London or walk wherever you are in yhe world.
Facilitated by Caroline L. A. Wheeler, Sally Stenton and Aya Hastwell as part of Walking beyond words, in association with Experimental Space Collective [esc].

Duration: One hour (approx.)
Meeting point: Rembrandt Gardens, Little Venice. W2 1XB. Nearest tube Warwick Road
End point: Primrose Hill

Please visit the website for more info and registration at https://www.sallystenton.com/works/.