SPURSE

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    ONGOING PROJECTS

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    Currently, we are working on a number of initiatives around the commons, multi-species commoning, urban ecosystems, food & eating, race and ecology, and new models for ontological invention with various communities and organizations. Please be in touch

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    EAT YOUR SIDEWALK

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    COMMONS BOAT

     

    FIVE URBAN WALKS

    How might we develop new ways of being part-of and co-shaping our environment? These five self-guided walks are designed to help us experiment with novel practices of entangling with our environment and prompting a conversation on new ways we might be in and of a place. The walks leverage your phone to guide you through the city by engaging with augmented reality, audio guides, and exercises. At the end of each walk, you will be invited

    to enter a dialog with others on the topic; we hope that you will join us.

     

    • Each walk can be done comfortably in an hour

    • Wear good shoes, comfortable clothes, dress for the weather

    • Always bring a blank notebook & a pen or pencil

    • Don’t forget your headphones & any other requested supplies

    • Make sure your phone has a good charge and connectivity

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    HOW TO START

    1. Choose a walk from the list below, gather your supplies

    2. Journey to the correct starting location (you will determine this based on the general directions below).

    3. Go to the first link/address with your device and explore the AR world it opens up

    4. Tap an AR object to open the audio tour

    5. Follow the audio tour at your own pace

    NOTE: If the AR does not work or you wish to skip this just click on the second link ("start here for audio only")

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    WALK ONE: INSIDE & OUTSIDE

    What does it mean to be inside?

    Where is “nature”?

    What kind of thing are you?

    A walk through the inside to find the great outdoors.

     

    LOCATION: Begin inside any room.

    MATERIALS NEEDED: Clothes that can get dirty, notebook and pen/pencil

    LINKS: 

    • START HERE FOR AR + AUDIO 

    • START HERE FOR AUDIO ONLY


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    WALK TWO: WATER WALKING

    How is everything alive?

    Is a river a person?

    What changes when we change our most basic ecological concepts?

    A walk in which we will greet water as a fellow human being and practice sensing how it is at work around us.

     

    LOCATION: Begin about half a mile from a river (or any waterbody) in which you can swim.

    MATERIALS NEEDED: Something comfortable to swim in and a towel

    LINKS: 

    • START HERE FOR AR + AUDIO

    • START HERE FOR AUDIO ONLY

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    WALK THREE: SPONTANEOUS & OVERGROWN

    What is “nature”?

    Can we recognize it?

    Did plants make us?

    What happens when we choose to become consciously dependent upon it?

    A walk to identify and chew on the plants that compel us to consider our multi-species cohabitation.

     

    LOCATION: Begin at the edge of a large overgrown patch or plot.

    MATERIALS NEEDED: Something comfortable to walk in, a plant identifying resource such as Plant Snap or urban

    foraging book, a notebook, and pen/pencil

    LINKS: 

    • START HERE FOR AR + AUDIO

    • START HERE FOR AUDIO ONLY

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    WALK FOUR: CATASTROPHE!

    Are we the living outcome of a hundred million-year catastrophe?

    What kind of catastrophe do we want to become?

    A trip on the bus as we search for catastrophes — the imprints they leave behind, and the composites they create.

     

    LOCATION: Begin at a bus stop.

    MATERIALS NEEDED: Materials Needed: A bus pass or ticket, a notebook, and pen /pencil

    LINKS:

    • START HERE FOR AR + AUDIO

    • START HERE FOR AUDIO ONLY

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    WALK FIVE: THE OTHER WALKING

    Are we walking communities and landscapes?

    How do we welcome the world and everything in it as an other and a neighbor?

    Join yourself for a walk, and a drink, that explores the way creatures beguile each one another.

     

    LOCATION: Begin about half a mile from a community garden or farming area.

    MATERIALS NEEDED: A bottle of wine, a corkscrew, 2 glasses, picnic  blanket, a notebook, and pen/pencil

    LINKS:

    • START HERE FOR AR + AUDIO

    • START HERE FOR AUDIO ONLY

     

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    This project is the outcome of a great collaboration:

    Conceptualized and produced by SPURSE, Flourish LAB, and Block Ecology, in collaboration with: Jezreel Deseo, Bryan Williams, and Schneur Werde; and with the assistance of Livia Alexander, Ulrike Fallmann, Richard Jochum, Tobias Nöbauer, Isin Onol, Kunsthalle Exnergasse at WUK, Wave Hill and others. Speakers: Lune Ames, Ruth Borgenicht, Marcello Borgenicht, and Johanna Lehner. 

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