Walkwalkwalk (2005–2010) is a British artist collective consisting of Gail Burton,

Serena Korda Serena Korda (born 1979) is a British visual artist. She has made work across a number of disciplines including Performance art, performance, sculpture, ceramics and public art. Her work is interactive and encourages people to explore everyday ...

and Clare Qualmann. Based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, their work focused on routine walks in the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

neighborhood of

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, as well as overlooked and forgotten spaces. Through their work they looked to create a new "'

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

of the familiar and the forgotten' in London's East End".^:50 Scholars have discussed walkwalkwalk's works in a variety of contexts, including

psychogeography Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutionar ...

, walking as an artistic medium,

Live Art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

Formation and practice

walkwalkwalk was formed in 2005, when Burton, Korda and Qualmann were "looking for a way to create artistic work that didn't require a budget or institutional affiliation."^:50 walkwalkwalk work across a variety of media, but all of their works are "linked through the practice of walking and the invitation to go on a walk".^:53 This includes group walks, walking instructions,

flyposting Flyposting (also known as bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters (also known as flyers) are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste i ...

, maps, and films. As Mike Collier describes it, 'walkwalkwalk drift through the streets of Bethnal Green collecting stories and objects, creating a narrative of place.'^:88 In particular, they are known for their series of ''Nightwalks'' (2005-2010),^:14 which took groups on nighttime walks to "selected spots . . . that do not really have any reason to exist",^:55 and their walk between fish and chip shops in London. Their work is closely linked with the Situationist concept of psychogeography, and particularly the practices of

détournement A détournement (), meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI),'' Report on the Construction of Situations'' (1957) t ...

and

dérive The ''dérive'' (, "drift") is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually city, urban, in which participants stop focusing on their everyday relations to their social environment. Developed by members of the Letterist International, it ...

. Scholars, however, have pointed out how it subverts many of psychogeography's common tropes. Deirdre Heddon and Cathy Turner refer to their work as "a sort of ''anti''-''dérive''", noting that walkwalkwalk "consciously ''détourn'' Debord’s expression of outrage ver the limited triangle of movement most people inhabitby specifically mapping their own daily routes to define a triangle: ‘rather than diverging from it we decided we would explore relationships within it'". Likewise, Blake Morris contrasts their "resolutely local explorations" with the type of epic walks "typified by literary psychogeographer Iain Sinclar's . . . exploration of the M25 motorway".^:51 Scholars have highlighted how their work centers the experiences of women, who are often excluded from histories of and discussions around walking. As Morris notes, walkwalkwalk's works "gave precedence to . . . the experience of women walking through the city".^:51 Likewise, Lizzie Seal and Maggie O'Niell use it as an example of how artistic walking practices could be applied to sociological and criminological research and practices, identifying their work as an "urban and micropolitical transgression challenging and resisting gendered norms".^:14

Selected exhibitions

* ''Chip Shop Tour of E8'' (2007), ''E8- The'' ''Heart of Hackney'', Transition Gallery, London * ''Nightwalks'' (2008), ''Stories from the Exeter Archive'' * ''walk walk walk: stories from the Bethnal Green archive'' (2010), a permanent installation in the Bethnal Green Old Town Hall. * ''walk walk walk'' (2013), ''Walk On: 40 Years of Walking,'' Pitshangar Manor Gallery, Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, mac Birmingham, Plymouth City Museum and Gallery{{Cite book, title=Walk On. From Richard Long to Janet Cardiff - 40 Years of Art Walking, last1=Morrison-Bell, first1=Cynthia, last2=Collier, first2=Mike, last3=Ingold, first3=Tim, last4=Robinson, first4=Alistair, publisher=Art Editions North, year=2013, isbn=978-1-906-832-08-7, location=University of Sunderland, pages=116

Selected publications

* Gail Burton, Serena Korda, and Clare Qualmann (2009) ''Walkwalkwalk: Stories from the Exeter Archive''. London: Site Projects.

References

Walking art