10 November 2009 – 1:07 pm
Pete Ashton is mad. In a very good, very clean, very ‘11′ way. He’s taking 11/11 as an opportunity to photograph 70 bus stops — that’s every other one (clockwise). Here’s his plan:
The plan, then, is to travel around the Outer Circle by bus only (no walking) visiting every other bus stop along the route. I will spend at least 10 minutes at each stop where I will do the following:
- Take one TTV photo of the bus stop. This will be a portrait showing how it sits in its environment.
- Standing at the bus stop, take at least 6 (normal) photographs of interesting things visible from it.
- Record one minute of ambient audio.
- Make any notes that occur to me while waiting for the next bus.
- Photograph the next bus as it approaches
16 September 2009 – 3:18 pm
On the eleventh of November 2009 you are invited to take part in a pyschogeographical epic. You have a window of eleven hours to complete a circuit of Birmingham’s number eleven bus.
There are rules. But not many:
- Get on the 11C at some point after 11am on 11/11.
- Get off the 11C exactly one circuit later.
- You can get on and off the bus as many times as you like (don’t spend more than an hour off bus at one time).
- Document your journey; photos, film, writing, cross-stitch, knitting, amigurumi, poetry, blog, twitter, however you like.
- Meet up with others as mad as you, if you want.
- Record everything here — or on your own space and link us up.
Get on. Get round. Get off.
10 November 2008 – 12:36 am
Okay, you’ve packed your sandwitches, crisps and a penguin, got your camera, laptop or posh mobile phone, pens, paper or hammond organ. How are we going to know what you’re up to?
By the power of online communication.
Of course, in a post 11-hours-on-a-bus haze, there’ll be proper round-ups on the 12th.
Get to it!
9 November 2008 – 11:39 pm
2 November 2008 – 2:42 pm
An expedition of our scale needs careful planning. If you’re going to spend eleven hours on a bus, you need to know places to eat, places to get off to go to the toilet, places to charge your gadgets if you’re doing anything like filming or photography. So we need an editable collaboratable map. Luckily here’s one:
View Larger Map
Join in and add places of interest or places we can safely take break. Add where you’re starting, with a special bus icon of you like.
29 October 2008 – 8:19 pm
Today I got the chance to hang out of the door of an eleven, point to one while grinning inanely and even do the “jazz-hands/camp jesus ta-da” motion of posing in front of something that every local paper requires for it’s photos. TWM had let me borrow a bus for some publicity photos and we (well I say we it was a proper bus driver) parked it just outside Acock’s Green Bus Garage.
I’m not on this one, I haven’t seen the photos yet — probably won’t until they hit the papers (despite my exhibitionist tendencies I don’t really like looking at photos of myself).
It got to meet some of the people that look after the 11 — the bus is based at Acock’s Green — including Mark the area manager and found out that they have 40 11s on the road on any one day.
Most importantly they really like the idea of people spending 11 hours on the bus and even invited passing 11-11-11ers in for a cup of tea on the day.
Don’t forget to sign-up if you’re coming, and even if you’re not you can help with writing the History of the 11.
23 October 2008 – 1:28 pm
By request(!), there’s now a download it yourself, print it yourself, put it up yourself, with your own blu-tac poster to promote our fine artistic adventure:
Download the 11-11-11 poster. No flyposting now.
21 October 2008 – 11:47 am
This old BBC feature has some fantastic comments about the 11 route (and tells of a fabled “commemorative 11 route guide” – has anyone got one?). But apart from the cliche “three coming along at once” thing – what do you think of the outer circle?
As preparation for the trip on the 11/11 we’d like to collect as many eleven route memories as we can – be they on-bus annecdotes, or tales about places the bus trundles through on it’s circumferencial journey.
Leave them in the comments here, or write about them elsewhere and drop us the link. Photos can be uploaded to flickr and tagged 111111c – if you place them on the map we’ll be able to see themall laid out lovely.
3 October 2008 – 12:34 am
On the 11th of November let’s create a modern ritual, a post-millennial cultural cult.
Eleven hours on the eleven bus — join us.
The rules:
- Get on the 11C at 11am (or as near as dammit) on 11/11.
- Get off the 11C at 10pm — 11 hours later — (or as near as dammit) on 11/11.
- You can get on and off the bus as many times as you like (don’t spend more than an hour off bus).
- Document your journey; photos, film, writing, cross-stitch, knitting, amigurumi, poetry, blog, twitter, however you like.
- Meet up with others as mad as you, if you want.
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