Good Fruit Tasks

2008-06-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

75. Take a photo of your task book at the beginning and end of your trip.
76. Take a photo of your dinner this evening and email it to linswilson@yahoo.co.uk (over week commencing 20.06.08)

New Tasks

2008-04-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

To add to #34 (continuous photos)
Laundrettes, people on bikes, bridges, schools, people kissing, trains, street lamps, toilet flushes, locks, .lighting

61. Take a photo of the patterns on the seats of every mode of transport used
62. Draw an incident involving a local
63. Take a photograph/scan of everything that you aquire along the way
64. Write down a foreign phrase that you have used a lot
65. Collect crap postcards then photograph or scan in
66. Take a 'typical' holiday snap
67. Make a mix CD of music you listened to on your trip
68. Take a photo of yourself everyday
69. Take photos of yourself in internet cafes
70. Take a photo of people kissing
71. Go to the very back of the transport you're travelling on and take a photo
72. Take a photo of someone else's 'typical' tourist snap
73. Create a representation of a place by taking photos in a photobooth there
74. save and then scan in all the maps you have used

New tasks

2008-03-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

53. Get a friend(s) back home to randomly text you or email you with tasks to do (set this up before you go)
54. Set your sights on a large bulding – i.e. the Eiffel tower, Empire State building, TV tower in Berlin etc. then start 5-10 miles away from it and spend he day walking towards it keeping it in your sight, instead of using a map. Document your day however you see fit.
55. Sit and draw a representation of what is around you – smells, sounds tastes, sounds etc
56. Spend a whole day listening to a place. Make recordings by Dictaphone/through drawings etc
57. Take a photo on the hour every hour of whatever you are facing. This could also be done every 15 minutes.
58. Take a photo of EVERYTHING you eat for the whole trip/for one place that you visit
59. Ask people what they think is a stereotype of that place (before you go), then set out on a mission to find and photograph them
60. Choose a particular place then take a picture of it early morning, mid afternoon, at sunset/dusk, and at night.

New tasks

2008-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think a bit harder to come up with tasks that may allow you to interact/intervene more with a culture rather than just observe. Observation is very important, but a lot of people have said that the things they have taken from a trip have been because of the people there. it's important to interact with other travellers for some reasons, but to understand the culture we need to interact. i also want to question the impact or intervention we have on a culture as western travellers...

39. Purposely speak English to someone in each place you visit, with no attempt at their language and note the differences in how they react.
40. Go to a mass in every place you visit.
41.a Support the local economy, do not buy anything that is mass-produced/manufactured - i.e. buy souvenirs made within the region/one offs/from markets, eat at local cafes/bakeries/restaurants, and where possible, accomodation - small, locally owned hotels and hostels, rather than chains.
41.b Try to strike up a conversation with the locals at these places, and record comments afterwards.
42. Ask a local what they think the key aspects of their culture are - city or country, good or bad. Write them down, then act on trying to discover them.
43. Leave your name in every place you go (physical intervention)
44.Ask a local if you can take a picture of them looking directly at the camera. Note their reaction/response and comfort/discomfort in doing so.
45. Take a photograph of the sky/the sun in every place (to show commonalities)
46. every day take a photo looking straight up.
47. Visit a school in each place and record your experience.
48. Take a cooking class in traditional cooking! (provide useful websites - http://www.realadventures.com/)
49. Take a sporting challenge that is specific to the place - eg hiking in austrian mountains, kayaking in croatian seas, biking in the netherlands etc.
50. Stay with a host local family/as a lodger etc instead of in a hostel (suggested websites, http://www.welcometraveller.com/, http://www.couchsurfing.com/, http://www.craigslist.com/)
51. Make a point out of attempting the native language, use english only where necessary, record the reactions.
52. Go to as many local festivals, religious services, parades, local villages, art and music events as possible. Try to discover how important they are to a culture - use the web but also local papers and flyers, and ASK people.
53. Visit a local food/antiques/flea market. Speak to the people there and try to find out about the place.

More Tasks

2008-02-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

28. Plan your day around a few tasks, then spend the entire day without a map.
29. Be aware of your 'carbon footprint' whilst travelling - you should try to counteract all flights and car journeys with an act of 'greeness' - plant a tree, only use public transport for the equivalent time afterwards. Whilst traveling, try to use as much public transport as possible.
30. Find types of places you want to go to before hand - e.g. bookshops, galleries, coffee shops etc., then visit them and make a trail. e.g. 'My Bookshop Trail' (can be a list/route on a map/pinpoints etc.)
31. Go to a famous building/monumnet/bridge etc., line your camera up as if to take a picture of what's in front of you, then walk straight forward and take a picture as close in as you can (but in focus). Name the picture by the name of the famous structure.
32. Set out all of the things you want to take with you. Divide them into necessary and luxury items (be honest!) then only allow yourself 3 luxury items for the whole of you trip - these could be make up, a hair dryer, certain clothes, etc.
33. At the end of the trip or when you leave a place, choose ONE picture that you feel represents each day/place the best. Then put them together to see a visual representation of your whole trip.
34. Take a picture in every place you visit of the following things:
a house/flats, a church/cathedral, a monument, traffic lights/walk signs, a taxi/bus/train/car, the outside of a traditional restaurant, a traditional food dish, road signs/street names, a street, graffitti, trees, people - a man, a woman, a child, standout fashion/clothes, a cup of coffee or other hot drink, other preferred drink, adverts - major/flyers/posters etc, yourself - full body shot and head-shoulders shot.
35. If your trip is mainly to a city/a tou of cities, try to branch out of them and visit smaller towns, beaches or mountains, and vice versa.
36. Get on any bus/train/tram, local or larger, then get off at the 3rd or 9th stop, or the end of the line and see what you find.
37. After leaving a place or even while you're there, write down your 'Top 5' favourite things about it - they could be anything - a moment, a smell, a piece of food, something someone said to you etc, don't just think about phyisical places.
38. Try to notice how many people/who notices you as a tourist, not at all, or mistakes you for a natve, then write about these instances.

Testing Out Existing Tasks

2008-02-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

To get more of an audience's perspective (before I go travelling), I decided to do a few assignments from similar publications/projects. The first ones are from Learning to Love You More, but i'll also be looking at 365 Ways to Change the World, Lose Weight! Get Laid! Find God!, This Diary Will Change Your Life etc. I find these tasks more self reflective, or simply just for enjoyment's sake - especially as part of a massively self-motivated project, it is sometimes nice to be told what to do! I want mine to be simple to do, but for myself and others to realise the connotations of them in relation to how we experience culture.

Assignment #9: Draw a Constellation from Someones Freckles "Lindsay's Arm Constellation - Aquila"

Assignment #28: Edit a Photo Album Page

Assignment #33: Braid Someone's Hair

Assignment #55: Photograph a Significant Outfit "What I Wore When I Played Guitar to 2000 People"

More soon...

tasks...

2008-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

19. If you make friends, ask them to do 3-5 tasks and email them to you
20. Draw/photograph all the kinds of moustaches and beards you come across!
21. Take a photograph of your footwear at the beginning and end of the trip
22. Make a list of things you lose and find along the way
23. Produce a comic of your day
24. Write about the experience of your whole trip overall, but only use the equivelent of 1 A4 side
25. Go to the cinema and watch a film in the native language then write a synopsis of what you think it is about
26. Persuade members of your dorm to elp you build a fortress out of beds, then document a day in the life of living in the fort as though it is a serious project (thanks to Mark)
27. Photograph/draw a popular tourist attraction in the middle of the day, then also at dawn.

more soon!

Also make sure you read this inspirational blog...

2008-01-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

by Michael Norton (author of 365 ways to change the world) part of 365act.com -

http://365ways.blogspot.com/

more tasks.

2008-01-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

12. Go and see a band, of any sort, then buy a peice of their merchandise and write a review of their performance.
13. Instead of leaving a tip in a restaurant, leave an actual tip. Be careful where and how you do this though!
14.Take a photo of a stranger and then give them a story (as in write one about them)
15.When you are leaving a place, think carefully then give it a colour. You can only use a colour once for the whole of your trip.
16. Take photos of the person you sit next to on every trip (train/plane/bus etc.)
17. Draw/photograph a really interesting food dish that you try.
18. Lay out and draw/photograph the innards or your backpack (maybe to make you think about what you really need to take!)

more soon.

Tasks!

2008-01-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

First of all, I am trying to create an art project combining art and travel. There are a lot of great books and websites around for practical information, but what about for trying to connect with different cultures through a different approach? There are some amazing artists/projects that have influenced my ideas, some i've found whilst researching my ideas, all of them have something that links them - trying to understand serious/cultural/social issues through the medium of art, if not visually then innovatively. mostly in fun ways, and sometimes seemingly random. we all have something more to say, consciously or subconsciously, and i'd like to create an opportunity for myself and others to be able to do that.

see these websites -

http://www.365act.com/
http://learningtoloveyoumore.com/
http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/
http://lifehacker.com/software/photography/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day-for-a-year-207424.php
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

I'd like this project to develop into a network/submissive project so i'm compiling a list of tasks that i'll keep adding to. Potentially this could be some sort of website and activity book for others, as well as documentation of my experiences. They are 'tasks' that i want to complete whilst traveling (i'm going to test them out myself over a 3 week stint in Europe in March). Please feel free to email me suggestions! Here goes so far...

1. Take a photo of your own shadow but try for it to not look like you are taking a photo
2. 'Treasure Hunt' unknown treasure - write (me or the traveller)
3. Create a series of repetitive images using the bed-linen/patterns in your accommodation.
4. Spend a day/the whole trip actively ignoring tourist attractions and document the experience.
one suggestion is to walk upto the attraction then take a photo in the opposite direction.
5. Make a flag out of things you have found in a particular place e.g. the french flag made up from collected items in France.
6.Learn a phrase in every language of the countries you are visiting and write the responses you get.
7. Leave a self-addressed, stamped envelope in lots of places with instructions for the person who finds it to write on it and post it.
8.Photograph/document signs that have alternative meanings as a foreigner (thanks to Bernice)
9. If you want souvenirs, either do not buy them or buy a native resident's personal possession (eg at a market) and try and find out the history of it.
10. Take something from home then leave it at your first destination and pick up another. Do this repeatedly for each place, document and see what you end up with (thanks to Robbie)
11. Visit a place for each letter of the country you are visiting (maybe if you are just traveling around one country!) or just the first 3 letters on a big trip. (thanks to Thea)