Sat Nav – the end of hope?

I recently put instructions on the Sensory Trust's web site on how to find our office after an increasing number of visitors found that their sat nav deposited them in a farmyard with no mobile phone reception a half mile up the road. This got us to wondering about the effects of satellite navigation on our relationship with the world.

Back in the days of paper maps we never lost a visitor, but now it happens repeatedly. Even to folks who have visited us before (that is, before they bought a sat nav). How has the sat nav changed our perception of the places we travel through? What is the difference between following instructions and reading a map?

Where we used to move mindfully through a wide landscape of choices and decisions we now hurtle through a tunnel of digitally voiced instructions. There is no room for the side-track and no need for the spontaneous. Indeed, a spur of the moment detour leads to the science-fiction scenario of the computer squawking at you to “turn around as soon as it is safe”.

Open the pod bay doors, Hal.

I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.

Those of us who live in urban areas have little chance to experience the natural world at the best of times. Everything from double-glazing and air-conditioning to television documentaries serves to keep our experiences twice-removed. Now, even when we're in it, the wider countryside is defined as a set of destinations that we're locked in to arriving at, “guided” by a tinny voice from the dashboard. Anything on the way is in the way.

Take a look at an OS map of the area around Stonehenge for example. A glance shows that we’re knee deep in prehistoric earthworks for miles around. This incredible richness was distilled for me recently by my (rented car) sat nav as “in 200 yards turn right onto the A344”.

A whole world of experience: history, geography, geology, the environment and landscape reduced to a list of left and right turns. Discovery is written out of the plan; no one gets happily lost.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that “to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”. With the sat nav, the only point of the journey is arrival. Can we still travel hopefully?

"I'm late, I'm late," said the rabbit, "I'm late for a disappointment."

"Don't you mean an appointment?" asked Alice, pedantically, "I've never heard of anyone being late for a disappointment before."

The White Rabbit pulled his satnav from his waistcoat pocket and peered at it. "No, it's definitely a disappointment. And I'm late!"

And with that he disappeared down a rabbit hole.

Tomen-y-Mur Roman Fort

Visited the site of the Roman Fort at Tomen-y-Mur in north Wales today. Refreshingly there was a complete absence of interpretive panels to drain every ounce of joy and discovery from the experience and I could Google it at my leisure when I got home. I was able to unearth this page from a rare textbook about the Romans in north Wales edited by none other than George Monbiot.

Regeneration Nightmares Volume 2

Another piece about how our public spaces are formed. Made for the Sensory Trust.

Movie star told “get out more”

A well known Hollywood actress has been diagnosed with severe vitamin D deficiency as a result of avoiding sunshine. Gwyneth Paltrow, most famous for her teary over-long Oscar speech and some films that I can’t care enough to remember, was diagnosed after suffering a Tibial plateau fracture… that’s the top of the shin bone for the rest of us. A subsequent bone scan revealed the beginnings of osteopenia, which many medical folks see as the precursor to osteoporosis.

In an attempt to stay young-looking Paltrow has spent a good deal of time avoiding the ageing effects of sunshine by staying indoors on nice days and covering up on the rare occasions that she finds herself outside. Not only has this resulted in an alabaster complexion to die for but, by avoiding the sun, she has become spectacularly deficient in vitamin D which, along with protecting us against some forms of cancer, keeps our bones strong. As well as prescribing massive remedial supplements of the vitamin, her doctors told her to spend more time in the sun.

There are two factors in the desire to stay whiter than white. For centuries white skin has been a goal for many women. Among the aristocracies of China and Europe for instance, swarthy skin was considered vulgar. Renaissance artists celebrated women with translucent marble-like skin. White skin meant good breeding. The efforts to maintain white skin in the past have been as damaging as Paltrow’s efforts in this century. Notoriously, arsenic and mercury were two compounds of choice for whitening skin. They do of course kill you, but that was felt to be a small price to pay for beauty and status.

The other factor is skin cancer. Or, more accurately, the fear of skin cancer whipped up by media reports and ill thought out government campaigns.

Speaking about something that the entire world has experienced daily since the beginning of time and that creates and sustains life on the planet, Paltrow said "I was curious if it was safe, having been told for years to stay away from its dangerous rays”. She doesn’t say exactly who told her to stay away from the sun but we can guess that alarmist media and government advice had something to do with it. The horrors of skin cancer are promoted widely. Certainly in Australia hardly a week goes by without being presented with a TV image or vast motorway poster close-up of a melanoma… lest we forget.

Much less promoted are the benefits of sunlight. Apart from stopping our bones from crumbling, studies also show that optimal vitamin D levels protect against ovarian, pancreatic, lung and breast cancers. A lack of vitamin D can also lead to cardiovascular disease and cognitive impairment in adults.

We spend a lot of time indoors nowadays; probably more than at any other time in history. Even when it’s not raining. Quite what the cumulative effect of our indoor lives will be is only just being uncovered: shorter life expectancy, environmental ignorance and social ineptitude may be the melting tip of the iceberg.

An actress can be forgiven for behaving like this, as the earnings crash that occurs to women in Hollywood at the first signs of wrinkles is usually spectacular. The rest of us have no such excuse.

Get out more, and enjoy responsibly.

Gwyneth Paltrow's original newsletter article
Hormone disruptors and nano-chemicals - latest guide to safe sunscreens

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British Life To Change Forever

David Cameron or Nick Clegg warned today that he would change forever the way the British lived. Dismissing accusations of social engineering as “the whining of wound-licking socialist running dogs” he stated “there is no such thing as society, therefore there can be no such thing as social engineering.”

The UK prime minister warned that the cuts to public services would be unpleasant, however the good news was that he would never meet those most affected by the changes at a dinner party. He went on to say that unpleasant things were always good for you, which meant the cuts were Common Sense and the Right Thing to do. The war in Iraq and the medicine his nanny used to give him were proof if proof were needed, he added.

Speaking later at a London private club to an audience of Daily Mail readers bussed in from Middle England David Cameron or Nick Clegg said “in layman’s terms the problem with the NHS and social welfare is that they simply do not make any money.” He then went on to attack the idea that these services were necessary. “I’ve never had to use them, and I can’t see why anyone else would need to either.”

“These cuts are not motivated by ideology, they are simply Common Sense. We plan to close the NHS and stop welfare payments to voters in the North.” He then went on to talk about the importance of continuity, pledging to continue the Labour Party’s policy of donating tax revenue to the banks. “They make excellent profits, and this is Good Business.”

Hitting back at criticism he said “suggestions that public spending can somehow support growth and improve the economy are the insane ravings of the sort of left-wing university intellectuals who never invited me to their parties at Oxford.” Stepping back from the microphone he then punched the air and shouted, "who's the daddy? I own you bitches" before continuing to lay out the government's planned cuts.

Inspired by the public apology given recently by Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, for the excessive cuts of his predecessors David Cameron or Nick Clegg announced that the UK government would quickly form a Canadian-style Star Chamber of Private Sector experts to make government more efficient. “The speed with which BP have dealt with the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico should be a lesson to us all” he shouted over rapturous applause from the Daily Mail readers.

After the speech James Kirk, a Daily Mail reader from Penge said “finally we have a government with Common Sense. It’s about time those scroungers in the North stopped taking out of the taxpayer’s pocket. If they want health care they should cash in some of their investments to pay for it like I do.”

“At last we've got a proper English government that we can look up to instead of all those fucking Jocks.”

A hommage of sorts to the Daily Mash

Regeneration Nightmares Vol 1

Part of the day job is working with folks who don't get much of a say in how their environment is built and managed.

Part of what we do is host events that are accessible, fun and create a casual atmosphere that enables people to voice their opinions on decisions that will affect their places. We take these opinions and ensure they influence the planning decisions from the beginning of the project.

This is a cartoon I made a while back which we were going to use in a piece of promo that didn't quite come off.

It is, of course, a work of fiction and no resemblance to any real person, living or dead, or any public art project, is intended or implied.

Red Dot or Not

Three and a half easy ways to earn a living as an artist

The Red Dot is the goal of many artists. The Red Dot confers on the artist (after a suitable wait for the gallery to process the payment and remove their commission) almost superhuman powers such as the ability to pay rent or their overdue electricity bill. In quantity the Red Dot can produce a kind of mania and artists who have the Red Dot can be seen in supermarkets spending lavishly on basic food items that are not on special or near their sell-by date. This all sounds great but beware. Artists who have too many Red Dots may be seen by commercial galleries as “product”. Do you really want to be painting the same picture in ten years time? And remember, you’re only as good as your last show.

Then there are artists who shun the Red Dot. For them it is a symbol of a system that forces artists to sell their souls and prostitute their abilities to produce meaningless gewgaws for the bourgeoisie. They are the Cutting Edge, challenging the concepts and conceits of Art and refusing to sell out to the system. They remain true to themselves by competing for official government support in the form of grants and residencies. Filling out application forms and lobbying decision makers can often be time consuming and in many cases these artists see grant applications and social networking as part of their art form.

The third way to earn a living as an artist is to earn a living doing something else. What that might be depends on the artist but it is often wise to choose something that offers flexible hours and does not involve creativity so that can be saved for making art. Administration and hospitality are popular choices. Infantry soldier and trawler fisherman less so. Nightshifts can be handy for artists who prefer to work in daylight. Aside from the ability to eat and pay rent, a big advantage of this method is that it allows artists to experience "real life" which in turn can give their art more "meaning". Experiencing real life, along with a working class background and claiming an indigenous great-grandmother are essential for any artist who wants to be written about in a lifestyle magazine. Being attractive and/or having a nice house can also help.

For artists at the beginning of their "career" (as it’s been called since the 80’s) it should be noted that none of these methods is guaranteed to net financial success. In only a few cases will the Red Dot sales approach make the artist permanently wealthy. Government agendas change often and only artists adept at predicting fashions can rely on grants. The third method is not without danger too. The seductive lure of eating regularly and being able to socialise with friends who have proper jobs can lead to voluntarily taking on more hours until there is little time left for art making. So the “three-and-a-halfth” method, and the most sustainable, is to do all three, in a balance that suits.

A final sober word of caution. Many students at Art School (or “university” as it’s been called since the 90’s) view the idea of doing nothing but make art as a sort of holy grail. When you’re surrounded by other people making art in a social atmosphere it’s easy to imagine doing just that for the rest of your days. The reality is that often art-making is a very solitary occupation and anyone considering being an artist for the rest of their lives should consider how they might balance that with other activities that keep them human. Even if you don’t need the money, maybe that barista job is a good idea.