Strolling is walking along or through at a leisurely pace

Inspired by countless walks at the beginning of 2020’s quarantine, the idea of constructing an interdisciplinary collection of works surrounding the topic of strolling began to take shape.

Seen as a playground for exploration and collaboration, the project formed with help from experts with backgrounds in art, psychology, math, architecture, chemistry, medicine and general life experience, condensing an open approach into one walk around the culture surrounding the stroll. In this cluster of knowledge, there is a democratic way of dealing with different forms of expression, merging the lines between daily life, art practices and scientific debate.

Next to direct approaches surrounding the question of what walking means in certain contexts, or how one could think of walking within these discourses, reflections by the editors that deal with questions that arose while working on the project are also included, resulting in a document that explores the process of creation itself.

Questions asked in this project include: What is the cultural history of walking? How do we orient ourselves within the world? Where is the line between nature and culture? What does walking do for our health? What political implications does strolling have? But also: Can science be art? What does it mean to use a publication as a medium of expression? How does art deal with a curfew? Am I a living or a dead author? What ought political art to do?

Strolling is walking along or through at a leisurely pace is meant to be like a walk that leaves you disoriented from time to time, wondering where the hell you are, but eventually guiding you back to safety with what you are reading and looking at as you make your way around the cornerstones of the concept.

With contributions by

Janina Kempkens (ed.), Kendra Katharina Witzel (ed.), Charlotte Amian, Ala Cherif, Achraf Daghar, Michaël Delbeecke, Sophie Helgers, Mari Kousso, Taemin Lee, Pilar Lennertz, Úlfur Logason, Levin Saracbasi, Luca “Thom” Schreurs, Julian Wachendorf, Mara Wimberger

JUST KIDDING Collective "Strolling is walking along or through at a leisurely pace" 11,5x18cm, 144 Pages, English, Present Books 2021