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Local Alternatives
re-imagining urban histories and futures with children and young people
1/16
sensing place
every time we cross Stretford road
on the way to Hulme park
our air sensor shows spikes
of toxic gases and particulate matter
we keep going back
to this grove of trees
on top of a little hill
in Hulme park
it's like Hulme park is an island
and all the roads surrounding it
are invisible rivers of pollution
all the trees have grown the same height
but when we look closely
they are multispecies of ash, oak
maple and beech
how to record a bloc of sensation
with multiple layers and scales
the hottest summer
ever recorded in this place
we wire the trees up with sensors
multiple cameras and microphones
a meshwork of string
drift from forest fires
smoke and ash
from distant events
the alarm on our No2 sensor
triggered by the drift of the day
our sensation of place
is characterised by drift
Hulme park is a nexus of atmospheres
invisible movements, currents, flows
not just what we see, smell, and hear
fabrics and sheets from local op shops
imbued with people's lives and sensations
saturated with the everyday affects of Hulme
place becomes a medium
for feeling and thought
zooming in and zooming out
backgrounding and foregrounding
part-whole relations
details and totalities
patterns of contrast
harbouring a dark beauty
we experiment with different compounds
using foods we brought along from home
strange mixtures and consistencies
an (in)edible landscape
with sensory regions and zones
with trees wired together
we can play them like instruments
the proxemics of place
make for intricate feelings
and an excess of value
place senses and is sensed
place feels and is felt
place thinks and is thought
place shapes and is shaped
place values and is valued
collaborators
Suzanne Smith (Z-arts)
David Rousell (Biosocial Lab, MMU)
Z-artists (age 11-14)
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