Rush Hour Walk
Artist
This works in a city; or in any place where there is a marked transition between the rhythms of daytime and the rhythms of night.
I started a practice of rush hour walks, generating image and writing, during my graduate program in Chicago. I was deeply engaged with learning about various artistic practices utilizing walking, and thinking about how walking generates new content, ideas, and patterns. I started this practice as an exercise in observation, which very quickly turned into a meditation on change and transition and how observable these shifts are in urban public space.
This provocation can become a book, a series of short poems, a sequence of photographs, or a collection marking the passage of time. Use it as a ritual, as a way to put space between two modes of working and being, and as an opportunity to observe your surroundings in a new way.
Caroline Wood is a book artist and educator with experience in museum education and arts administration. Previously, she has worked in Education and Visitor Engagement at the International Center of Photography, MoMA PS1, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Caroline holds an MFA (Photography) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2019) and a BA in History and Studio Art from St. Olaf College (2014).
Caroline Wood
Notice the shift in energy from the week to the weekend, or from day to night.
Invitation
Wherever you are on a Friday afternoon or at the end of your work week, leave your phone on your desk. Pick up a notebook, a pen, and a camera. If your phone is your camera, put it on airplane mode and turn your notifications off.
Decide which direction to walk in. You can either pick a cardinal direction, or if you are in the center of an urban environment, walk either in the direction of commuters or against them.
Walk as far as you feel like walking. Be leisurely. Look at things. You have no destination. If you notice something, write about it. If you feel compelled to document the things you are noticing, take photos.
Think about how you are existing in comparison to the people around you. Make up stories about what they may be doing, who they are on their way to meet, or where they’re coming from. Write down all of your observations.
Notice the shift in energy from the week to the weekend, or from the day to the night. Look at things that are changing. Spend some time noticing things that you might not otherwise notice in transit.
Once you start to become tired, walk back to where you came from. Collect your notes and photos. Do this every week until it becomes a habit.