On the buses
08.09.97 - 13.09.97

On The Buses is a touring live/time based art project which looks at the changing cultural relvance and significance of transport in contemporary culture in terms of creating and maintaining networks and examining; relationship to place, eroding notions of the cultural centre and its' periphery and the exchange of information and culture. The project develops the bus as the actual site for locating and placing cultural meaning. In an era of electronic communications On The Buses examines the idea of a cultural information network in a very physical way. As an ambassadorial conception On The Buses ties together and cross exposes several venues, artists and audiences to create new networks of information and communication. It uses the road trans-portation network as an example of a primitive model of hi-tech, electronic information networks. The network for On The Buses is grounded in the physical and socially prevalent modes of public transport systems. It proposes a model of a network where there is no specific centre. Each place on the network is contributing and receiving information which goes to form the overall cultural event. It is nomadic as an event and so it exists nowhere centrally. The focus of attention of On The Buses constantly shifts place around the route or network. In an era and spirit of techno nostalgia On The Buses suggests a model for future cultural networks based on a retrospective look back to pre-electronic communication networks between towns and villages where the public transport network, especially buses would have been a vital source of information facilitating social and cultural exchange.