Story Walk

Collaborative Narratives
Duration 1-2 hrs

We would like to invite the participants to go on a walk through the East Village led by Emily Gallagher a grand tour guide that will point out historical and cultural significance about that area. She will guide us through four major locations, which will mark our territory of action.

The project is to support the idea that experimental story telling can be done collaboratively and that no writing skills are necessary but the believe that the best stories are out on the streets waiting for us to pick them up. We’ll walk through reality and shift it into fictional space. The map we’ll produce will give the audience the opportunity to re-walk the story walk and tell their own story.

At each spot the group, divided into subgroups, will spend some time in that area and capture it on different media with various intentions. For example one group will set the scene visually. Another group will put into words describing the location and what is unique about it. Another set of groups will spread out and listen to catch lines from passers-by and verbalize sounds that distinguish this spot from others as well as collecting information from street and store signs. Yet another group will take pictures and videotape the moments of observation. We believe that in-depth stories can be told by the subtle routine of everyday people and locations.

We will provide a tool kit to make the tasks accessible and to store them for further use like a log book/cards of what happened where. The visual material will be posted online and put into place on the virtual map. The written material that describes the scenery will serve as a theatrical introduction to each spot to set the scene for the audience. The one-liners will be rearranged and put in an order to tell an abstract story and sketch a picture of today’s East Village people and places.

Generating the story is a collaborative and interactive event and viewing the story through the map or re-walking the tour provides a non-linear narrative.

The participants will gather again to put the material together and get it ready for presentation and reflection.

The goal is to sharpen your senses for your own reality and become aware of the important instants that make a good story. By juggling up reality we can create a whole new fictional narrative and still reflect on our time and our space.