I have just heard that I have been awarded a small amount of funding from the UEL to put on an exhibition of the Hackney Bike Portraits taken during the project. The event will take place May/June-ish. Lots more to come as I work out the details.
This is the abstract for a paper I have co-written with Rachel and submitted to a journal (fingers crossed). As Rachel mentions below, this paper is under consideration for publication so we can’t put it up here, but if you would like a personal copy please email me.
iPod zombie or sensory cyclist? Sensory strategies, cycling practices and the changing nature of attention and distraction
iPods, sunglasses and radios are just a few of the technologies employed by car drivers, pedestrians and public transport users to amplify or inhibit the sensory impact of their environment. Within mobility studies they are examined in relation to themes of control, customisation and detachment and viewed as the means of transforming public spaces into private ‘cocoons’ and ‘bubbles’. What is discussed less frequently is how different forms of mobility shape strategies of sensory mediation. The article takes as its starting point media accounts of cyclists with iPods as ‘zombies’ and drawing on research in Hull and Hackney sets out to (1) locate ‘sensory strategies’ in mobilities literature, (2) examine sensory inequalities in relation to mobility choice and (3) describe how cyclists mediate their exposure to the sensory environment. Our focus is not if, or to what extent, cycling with an iPod might be dangerous, but rather we examine the sensory strategies enrolled by cyclists for the purpose of rendering visible mundane taken-for-granted mobile social practices. We draw attention to the power relations which underpin appropriate and inappropriate levels of sensory attention and distraction and argue that there are sensory inequalities at play in established mobility hierarchies.