I am really pleased to say that XPT Kidnapped is finally online.
It’s in a pretty basic form, simply outlining where we’re going, where we’ll be each day and explaining the various ways you might want to join in.
For those who haven’t been following, the basic proposition is this:
From 30th June to 25th August 2009, Rob and Tim of XPT will be following a route across Scotland from the south western tip of Mull to the outskirts of Edinburgh, as charted in Chapters 14–27 of ‘Kidnapped’.
We aim to meet people from all walks of life who have something to say, or something to play or perform, that is relevant to the story of ‘Kidnapped’ and to the land we are travelling through. And we'll publish all our encounters and all your performances & contributions online as we go.
It could be just one word, or a whole chapter that inspires you, or perhaps there’s a big issue that arises out of the story that you really want us all to address. Whatever it is, we want to say it, play it, perform it or *re-play* it somewhere on the Kidnapped Trail.
You can contact us here and let us know exactly where on the route you’d like to join us—or, if you can’t make it up to Scotland, you can submit your contributions via the web site and we’ll read them out—or even perform them for you.
And when we finally arrive in Edinburgh on 25th August, we’ll have a party and then start work on a new version of the book itself—a re-printing of Stevenson’s story with a whole load of new photos, texts, performances and papers, generated by all of us as we moved through the landscape.
This year is very much a proof of concept or working prototype for something we’d like to ‘go large’ on next year (and the year after).
In a very strong sense, we want the trail to become 'open environment' where people each year can express themselves and contextualise their thinking about this fantastic story, both out in a landscape and online; by which I mean XPT Kidnapped can become a place where you can play and talk, walk and create, learn and *have fun*.
So in 2009 the aim is:
- to prove the journey can be done (we're not aware of anyone ever having completed the Kidnapped Trail in 'real' time)
- to talk to and film people on the way, blogging and vlogging and generally documenting the whole experience online
- to develop the basic software that will allow people online both to track our progress and post their own thoughts and contributions for us to take down into the landscape
- to work how we might all end up making of a book that combines Stevenson's original text with the best of the content we generate along the way
I know have a number of rather large production tasks ahead of me. Some I'm further down the line with than others - and all help welcome:
- confirm the basic logisitics of travel, accommodation, food – and alert as many people as possible who live and work en route about what we’re doing
- sort out the technology and kit we’ll need in order to generate and publish meaningful geolocated content from out in the field.
- develop the online presence to support mapped submissions and creative input from anyone who wants to join in – as well as develop the means for people to adapt, annotate and generally play with Robert Louis Stevenson’s original text.
- seek out serious partnerships for possible funding, sponsorship and production resource
- persuade as many people as possible to join us out in the landscape and respond in some way to the story.
The XPT 10th birthday dream would be to use this project to meet up with all the talented, crunchy, interesting people Rob & I have encountered and/or worked with over the last ten years and see how each of them might respond creatively to reading a book and coming out into the wilds with us. So if you are reading this, don't just sit there, come and join us!
The more, the merrier.
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