For me 4 x 4 x 4 goes far beyond picture-taking. It is important to me that I feel involved with every part of the process, and for this project a lot of that is about movement, and travel.

I feel very engaged with the physicality of my journey, whether that is using my body to walk or cycle, or by fully engaging in my surroundings through sight and sound. Even these blogposts are a way of working through the project, in an exploratory fashion; a place to get my thoughts out, and to open a dialogue with anyone who feels like sharing.

This blogpost is a synopsis, created from notes and sound-recordings I made en-route to two of my destinations:

Thursday 15th August 2019, 7.25am: 341 Bus to Blackfriars

The sun is already burning off the cloud, following a heavy-grey day of persistent rain yesterday.

I sit on the top-deck, and take my second-choice seat because the front seats are already occupied. Gloucester Drive the recorded voice says, with minimal intonation.

People sit singularly in a line, one behind the other, leaning on the left-side window, and plugged in to their sounds of choice. 341 the voice says, with a little more cheer.

Outside, a smiling LED sign reads 20, the inner-city speed limit measured in miles. The sun hits shop-fronts, and creates dappled light through heavy trees; the city never looks so good as in the summertime, when plant life is abundant.

I read some shop signs in a detached manner: Burwin Bicycles, The Lord Clyde, My Favourite Cafe. Pigeons huddle on a window ledge, holding tight to sleep; it won’t be long before the humans begin to drop crumbs from their breakfasts, calling them to action. “Northchurch Road” the tannoy informs me.

As we approach the junction at Angel Tube Station, nearing the edge of the City the bus begins to swell with passengers. A man sitting next to me watches the news on his phone, and women with wet hair, fresh for the day, sit upright…My imagination has them mentally preparing for the day.

Outside I see a Banner saying ‘Welcome to Islington, London’s first 20 Borough’. We do love a sign, and I find some of them mind-boggling if I start to analyse them. There will be more talk of signs in these pages!

As the bus fills, people start looking more lively: conversations begin, and phones start to ding and beep.

Tuesday 10th September, starting around 9.30am: 121 Bus to Enfield

As I played the above recording to check it was working, I noticed that just as the recorded voice announced the bus-number, the timer read 1:21. I couldn’t have planned it!

Those sounds sure seem amplified when you play them back - I guess we can generally cut out unwanted sounds, unless we happen to be on the ‘school bus’! It’s amazing what the brain focuses on depending on our mood, or preoccupation.

By recollection I think I walked to Turnpike Lane to catch the 121 Bus. I headed upstairs, which is my normal; partly for the extra space, and partly because of the chance of an interesting view. It was a lot warmer than my weather-app predicted, and I could feel a light breeze on my skin: a combination of the air-conditioning, and an open window. Heat radiated through the large glass panes.

It’s a bright September day, and two young sporty guys come upstairs, chatting energetically. I imagine they are on their way to school, but glancing at the time I see it’s 10.28am. ‘Surely not’ wonders the mother in me ‘Perhaps they had an event somewhere first’. ‘Maybe they are in the sixth form’. Jeez! How weird we are, making up scenarios for perfect strangers!

I was feeling day-dreamy. The bus was heading to Enfield Island Village. ‘Sounds romantic. I doubt it is’ as noted in my book.

My day-dream must have ended quickly, as I ask “When did we start having CCTV screens on buses, and what’s with all the announcements?” We are watched, fed dull information, given no real reason to connect with our surroundings (as it is fed to us subconsciously) It’s like a baby being pushed around in a pram, and reminds me of the sketch from Little Britain, ‘computer says no’. Urgh.

On top of that I can never look at all these technological contraptions without thinking ‘landfill’. Like, what is all this shit we create, and why?

As the bus gets closer to Enfield the view becomes greener. On a fast road the light goes dark, then light, dark, then light as the trees allow the sun to shine through empty spaces. The roads seem bumpy, as the driver has picked up speed.

Damn! I missed my stop.