A series of guided neighbourhood walks and a tour led by Hito Steyerl’s Actual RealityOS research partners: Architects for Social Housing, Disabled People Against Cuts, The Voice of Domestic Workers and artist Constantine Gras.
Influenced by the Situationists’ dérive, the Power Walks programme brought to life the Actual RealityOS data, highlighting issues around social housing, low-wage work, histories of resistance and the accessibility of the city. The three walks and a tour were created in conversation with campaigns, community groups and organisations local to the areas surrounding the Serpentine, and took place throughout the duration of Hito Steyerl’s Power Plants exhibition. Each walk and tour told a story of the hidden and not so hidden inequalities from the point of view of those most affected.
POWER WALKS PROGRAMME
Saturday 13 April, 2pm: Architects for Social Housing
Architects for Social Housing led a walk that explored how increasing privatisation and legislation affects our ability to access the city and how these changes contribute to the housing crisis.
Saturday 27 April, 10am and 2pm: Constantine Gras
Gras, a former artist-in-residence for Grenfell Tower, led a multi-vocal walk that uncovered the histories of resistance and reproductive labour in North Kensington.
Sunday 28 April, 2pm: The Voice of Domestic Workers
The Voice of Domestic Workers began this walk with real-life accounts of domestic workers being rescued in Hyde Park, London. A self-organised network and campaign calling for justice and rights for Britain’s 16,000 migrant domestic workers, the group focused on their work organising for rights on a national and international level.
Saturday 4 May, 2pm: Disabled People Against Cuts
Disabled People Against Cuts led a Power Tour to raise awareness of the disproportionate and adverse impacts of so-called “welfare reform” measures on disabled people since 2010, and how disabled people have been fighting back.
About Actual RealityOS
Actual RealityOS charts real-life inequality through virtual means (augmented reality). Visitors to the Serpentine view a warped simulacrum of the exterior of the physical building using data about wealth, social housing and austerity collected with local research partners. This form of data visualisation was designed to restore a social vision to an often-unseen stark class reality. The research partners for the work included Architects for Social Housing, Disabled People Against Cuts, Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance, Unite the Union Hotel Workers’ Branch and The Voice of Domestic Workers.
