an audio walk

On Thursday September 15th extended practices went on a class trip to Oakville Galleries, Gairloch Gardens. We went to take part in Janet Cardiff's audio walk.

This was such a surreal experience. With an iPod & a set of headphones you are lead on a walk around the Gairloch Gardens. The way that the audio track was recorded makes it seem as if you are actually listening to everything that's happening and it's not just coming from a track.

As I was walking I kept looking around and behind me... I could hear geese overhead, someone running past me, a helicopter, children laughing...and yet none of it was real. The feeling you get when you are so submersed into something like that is completely amazing.

I highly recommend that you visit Oakville Galleries at Gairloch Gardens to do the Janet Cardiff audio walk. The grounds are gorgeous and it is an experience you shouldn't miss.

It was the perfect way to end the week.

2:48

2:48 is the exact amount of time it takes me to walk from the bus stop to my front door. 

I don't usually walk home. And especially not at night when I'm by myself.

 

Since this walk was unusual for me I did things that I don't normally do while I walk.

A common suggestion for women walking alone at night is to talk on their phone to deter strangers. I decided to employ this technique but with a twist. Holding my phone as if I was talking to someone, I recorded my walk as a video. I also stopped to pick up leaves and turned at random to observe my surroundings. I pause near the end to dig my keys out of my bag - unusual for me because I usually always have them at the ready

Walking like this was very interesting to me. I was alone on my walk and did not encounter others aside from when I got off the bus. I wish that people had walked by me so that I could document their reaction to me being on the phone yet not talking, and picking up artifacts along my walk.

Another reason why I walked at night is because I enjoy the silence, the street lights and headlights cutting through the darkness and how things look very different.


Nicole