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WALKS   WORDS   UPCOMING
Score #20 by Carol Maurer

[score base: a £15 Amazon gift card; photo and score: Carol Maurer (2021); score text: [under the gaze of/amazon./imagine spaces/15/which ‘the human figures’ were like the ‘signs’/amidst the foot traffic/improving the biodiversity of the site./imagine space as/contractual agreements/and/the ‘deepest meaning’ of/play]
We walked under the gaze of Amazon—a ubiquitous feature of the American landscape and beyond—looking for the ‘deepest meaning of play’. Julius started us off, exploring outside the confines of ‘screens and surveillance’. The next day Carol and I walked together at a distance, moving around and between our local Amazon Fulfillment Centers. Amazon heroes, contractual boondoggles and smiles amidst the foot traffic, sometimes accompanied by an unusual number of birds.

Julius; 17 December; Eastbourne, UK
An A4 sheet of paper. At the top reads "Response to Score #20 - Julius Smit - 17 December 2021" Below is an image of a street with a brick wall, pavement and street sign reading Paradise Road. Below that is text reading "The ‘deepest meaning’ of play: to follow Paradise Road (not far from where in live in Eastbourne, UK) then taking a path across fields, over a stile and then connecting with the gate opening up into beech tree populated woodlands. Woodlands pull me back; to childhood and play. I kick up cushions of late autumn leaves and watch them scatter around me. The mythology of childhood paradise; making dens, hide and seek and sinister shadows. The trees are almost bare, sharp sunlight floods open spaces and the path takes me deeper into the gathering." At the bottom of the page is a wooded area with a wooden gate. An A4 sheet of paper. At the top it reads "After an hour or so I come to the hideout. In an age of screens and surveillance, I am excited to see an outcome of play. I feel pangs of recognition and reconnection. Play can be about reinforcing your own position, not following the established path, becoming lost and setting up camp on your own terms." Below is a picture of a fort made of long sticks in a wooded area with dropped leaves covering the ground." Below there is text reading "To arrive at these sites it is necessary to walk, stiles or no stiles. It’s how I do it, going into the ‘deepest meaning’" The image below that text is a brick background with large white writing reading "Walk 11 (No Stile".

Carol and Blake; 18 December 2021; New Castle Delware and Fresno, California

A large, white Amazon sign on green grass with trees in the background. The sign reads: "YOU ARE AWESOME! Thank you for working hard & delivering smiles". A row of light blue Amazon trucks in a parking lot. A series of orange road blocks are in front of the trucks. A sandwich board on the grass median next to a road reading "Welcome Amazonians" with an orange arrow pointing to the right. In the back a black Amazon sign is visible. It reads "DPH 4". A pebble faced building with a square sign that reads "Delivery Station. Amazon DFA2 2325 South Cedar Ave Fresno, CA 93725 -VERIFY YOUR ADDRESS- There may be multiple Amazon locations in the area." A man in a green vest can be seen walking into the building. A spherical treehouse in the front yard of a suburban yard. It is made of sticks and similar to the one in Julius' photo, but in the air instead of on the ground. There is a shed or garage visible with a car parked outside. A sign on a dirt and pebble ground with a yellow construction vehicle in the background. The sign reads "Amazon FAT 1. 3875 S. Orange Avenue Fresno, CA -VERIFY YOUR ADDRESS- There may be multiple Amazon locations in the area."

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