DIY: 2009 – Steven Levon Ounanian Ritualride: A 30 day 1,000 mile ecological pilgrimage by bicycle

Locations will be mapped on the website www.ritualride.com, some in advance and others as the project progresses. The journey will move clockwise around Britain, the first leg being a trip from London to Canterbury.

Ritualride is a ridiculous journey into the outer limits of Great Britain. It will visit farms, solar panelled mosques, micro-climates, motorways, and McDonalds, to name a few. At each location, Steven and participants will ask the people involved in the “ecological site” to tell a story, and participants will be encouraged to tell stories and myths of their own, creating new narratives to be embedded into the environment. Participants are invited join on any leg of the journey — you may ride your own bicycle, or have a seat on the tandem!

Themes for Artist Development:
* The scale and needs of the environment in relation those of the human body.
* Impossible and outrageous ideas.
* Performance as a ritual and environmental act.

This project is in association with PLATFORM’s season “The Next 25” on climate justice at Arnolfini, Bristol (Oct – Nov 09).

Application Procedure:
Email: [email protected]

You may join this pilgrimage through cycling or hosting.

A. Cycling
There are at least 15 spaces available for artists on a rotating basis (participating artists may be from almost anywhere in the UK). Applications are invited from practising artists and scientists, recent graduates and students (graduate and undergraduate) in the fields of live art, performance art and experimental theatre and film.

* Please indicate your particular interest in the environment.
* How would your rate your cycling ability (on a scale of 1-10)?
* Do you have your own bicycle, or would you like to ride on the tandem?
* What region/area would you like to join the cycle project?
* What dates are you available?

B. Hosting
If you would like to be a host to participants on the ride please indicate:
* Your location.
* The type of accommodation (residence, gallery, geodesic dome etc).
* The number of people you accommodate for a night.
* The dates you are available.

Application deadline Friday 17 July.
The project is open for participation on an impromptu basis as well!

About the Artist:
Steven Ounanian is originally from Los Angeles, and recently received his Masters from the Royal College of Art in Design Interactions. His work consistently explores the neuroses embedded in technology, and the geographic dilemmas which technology is meant to solve. In 2008 he made a robot of himself to be with his mother in America, and has given workshops dealing with performance and technology, including some in San Quentin State Prison in California, and Highbury Grove School in North London. Through interactive media, collaborative experiments, and video, he looks at how, perhaps frighteningly, it is often through technology that we understand how to be human, together.
www.stevenlevon.com