Kate Armstrong
PING

PING will use a telephone system to offer a menu of options for a psychogeographer who calls in using a cell phone. After hearing a set of instructions outlining basic information about the project, the participant calling into the system will hear a detached female voice which might say, “Stop. Peer around yourself in the cityscape in order to briefly note existing ambient zones. What is your relationship to your current surroundings? Do you exist? Press 1 to ping me.” The user might press 1. “Good,” the voice continues. “Locate the nearest intersection. Quickly, without engaging in analysis, decide on a direction in which you would like to travel and begin to travel in that direction. As you are walking, heroically resist incorporation into the milieu through which you move. Press 1 if you are ready to receive further information. Press 2 if you are near a French tabac. Press 3 if you desire to alter the current algorithm.” PING will continue in this vein, offering the individual psychogeographer directions from a menu of commands. The participant may decide to follow along for any amount of time or to end the call at any point.
 
The telephone menu will be written and programmed by Kate Armstrong. PING will run throughout the PsyGeoConflux festival so that people may call in and participate at any time. The telephone number that people need to call in order to access the PING network will be distributed on a series of small cards.


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