Greengaged

Very late on Friday evening Greengaged took to the streets of London, for an exciting night tour entitled ‘Re-thinking the City”. Following an exhilarating appearance earlier last week, in the magical “Imagine 2058” workshop, London United’s interdisciplinary co-founder Aladin led the tour and explains how over 100 people had applied!

The four chosen few however, had a real night to remember - one which incidentally ended at 4.30am, an entire 3 hours later than scheduled. As aladin’s ‘passengers’ were to discover, the whole encounter was atypically unplanned, a durational performance with serendipity and chance. Following the walk, Greengaged spoke to the night walkers about their experience of the magical evening.

Ksenija Kuzmina:

“I was standing with my back to the tube station, looking inside the vitrine, where faceless yet well dressed mannequins occupied a brightly lit space. My mind was beginning to drift off, when suddenly a feeling of warmth on my right shoulder rekindled the awareness, the inconsistency of the tube traffic, the laughs and screams of the nearby pub crowd, the feeling of being watched. I shrugged it off and continued to wait. One, two… I began to notice familiar faces - three, four… the tour began.

aladin, accompanied by four suits of royal family and four strangers, wondered into an enclosed triangular-shaped space. The sounds of the streets vanished, and only a rugged blue box on the wall creaked a few times as it found it amusing to slightly play with our body shapes, when we were passing it by. “Can you take a picture of us please?” A four-year anniversary was celebrated by the upper floor inhabitants of the nearby apartment. She stood confident sharing her smile with the world, he was in a grey suit. When we left, a language triangle resonated into the space.

We walked onto an open empty plaza, and were welcomed by the array of the constantly flickering lights. aladin was in the familiar grounds, allowing the buildings and the streets tell their stories before explaining them to us and then taking us back to meet forgotten doors and plaques. “You may feel lonely in London,” I was told on the first day of the orientation at the university. Indeed, many things have been forgotten, or their existence has been minimised, yet there are few that will remember and cherish them, including the city. “Does anyone live here?” “No.” Empty tall buildings rose here and there, like guards to protect history and traditions.

Entering the heart of London, we were welcomed by the night rainbow. It felt as if for every moment of magic from aladin, the city was showing us too. We approached the park, a man made structure that have taken a life of its own. It is here that the citizens come during all hours of the day to take a stroll, unwind, and recharge. Serenity prevailed, and is only once in a while altered by the foxtail ruffling the grass, or a bird calling out to its neighbours. We were all amused by a small house of the river witch, and its presence in the park in the middle of the city created hope that man and nature can live side by side.

Thank you aladin, thank you fellow explorers, and thank you city of London.”

Etta Ermini:

“The night tour with aladin began in a disconcerting way. I was told to come to Covent Garden market and that ‘he would find me there’. Then he hung up the phone. I waited for a while staring at every single male passer-by hoping they would be the mysterious guide for the impatiently awaited event. Finally aladin appeared out of thin air and took us, a group of four, on to a most unusual night walk.

Our guide emanated mystery and enchantment, all the more so for ingeniously drawing in a couple of passers-by with some remarkable conjuring which he improvised with brio. He elegantly merged magic with historical facts, personal anecdotes and references to the sustainability of resources used in our metropolis; the latter became the night’s persistent theme.

I was under the spell of aladin’s love for details and his provocative approach to the night walk. One of my favourite moments was the utterly stunning sight of an old sycamore tree naturally illuminated by moon-and starlight in St. James’ park as well as the regiment of ancient gas lamps royally lighting St. James’ palace - opposite aspects and two versions of the glorious lighting of a city struggling to intertwine ecological sustainability with the dazzling glamour of Europe’s biggest metropolis.

I left at 4.30am exhausted but with a smile, recalling a beautifully executed experience embellished by aladin’s animated presence.”

Casper Gray:

“This is an experience I will remember with a smile for a very very long time, however it is almost impossible to describe in words what we did, why and what will come from it … but perhaps the thing that I will take from this is a reminder that many things are not done, not because they can’t be done, but because of habit … some kind of trained blindness that is inherent in us all. It’s amazing to see what is really in front, when you open your eyes wide. Thank you aladin and every one!”

Mark Atkinson:

“To me, the appeal of this event was in having an opportunity to share a personal passion for urban exploration and discovery with kindred spirits. But I was also curious about what it would be like to put myself in someone else’s hands. Apart from one momentary lapse (when I really wanted to photograph something I had never seen before: the “black button”), I tried my best to follow instructions (like “don’t panic”) without too much internal editorialising. In other words, to just be open to the experience and allow events to unfold. I found Aladin’s notion of “disruption” to be thought-provoking in terms of my own tendencies toward discreet observation. In the future, I may experiment with more proactive interventions during my own urban perambulations. In my experience, things that initially seem like they might be awkward or uncomfortable can often yield very satisfying results!”

aladin:

“It was all a bit of a challenge and I wondered what I’d let myself in for. Until now my late night walks have been private, spontaneous, unpremeditated occurrences. For Greengaged an iceberg-sized chunk of mystery and uncertainty seemed to have been cast away in the manner we had to publicly post the event. I was disconcerted to have so many people apply for the event, throughout the week and practically by the hour – a hundred approaches I had to diligently sift through.

In the end I thought the best I could offer was to keep myself slow and allow the four others as much space and as little direction as possible. It was revelatory for me to have their very different arrays of senses absorbing and feeding back as we moved about; I’m still taking in people’s responses as I write. The meditative space we entered and created together gave rise to a very strong quality of reverie and engagement – and it gave us the energy to continue until the morning. I felt the whole experience was beautiful.”