The drawing project I am currently working on reflects on the time we spend on public transport, especially on buses. This is a significant experience for many Londoners yet remains unappreciated, seen merely as necessity, even as a chore. In this project, I magnify this part of our life and focus in on the unreproducible, ephemeral nature of these everyday journeys.
As the pencil/pen follows the movement of the vehicle on the paper, the images become abstract interpretations (or data) of bus routes, the state of the road and even the mood of the driver. To highlight the random nature of these journeys I use different types of leftover paper, and accidentally choose the tools at each ride to enhance the character of the experience. I follow an unplanned route, getting on and off at arbitrary stops, and taking the first route that arrives. Each drawing is numbered, with the start and end points of each ride marked.
The questions I would like to find answers are
1.) whether the nature of the line-work of the small drawings would be mirrored on the London map once I connect these bus routes (as the structure of the atom reciprocates the Solar System), and
2.) to what extent could I get playful in such a masterfully organised system, such as TFL, playing by their rules and using their facilities.
I find this an extremely liberating process, as I never know where the next unplanned bus-ride will take me. I have to go with the flow and I would like to invite the viewer to enjoy the visual result of this practice of mindfulness.
