
John at the opening of the London villages Project – photo by Anne-Marie Glasheen.
The meeting was given to reminiscences of its founder John Levett who had died the previous week, and also to a discussion of actions which we might take in memory of John.
The first half of the meeting was given to memory; most of us had something to say. Several, having attended the Goldsmiths Photography and Urban Cultures course or the summer course, concentrated on John’s rare ability to encourage and provoke at the same time. But this quality was there in all the activities of both Crossing Lines and the Greenwich LIP group, also founded by John – and still going.
And future actions? Anita Strasser has had a promise of space for 1000 words in fLIP – most of us would like to see more – and the Goldsmiths publication Street Signs would welcome a contribution. PL would enquire whether the Guardian’s Other Lives page would welcome an account of John. Anita will lead a memorial walk along the Thames, Deptford to Greenwich peninsula, in summer; Anthony Palmer promised to audio-record the walk and some of the thoughts of the walkers.
The main concentration was on the possibility of an exhibition. John’s archive was lost when Cambridge council cleared his flat but we have some images scattered among us and there are texts in the Crossing Lines blog. (Accessible but no longer active; a new Crossing Lines 2 blog runs instead.) Ideas began to surface: one was to show material directly comparable to John’s; or to concentrate on his role as enabler and connector – and as walker, remembering (among others) John’s epic walk of the entire length of the Edgware Road as a conclusion to the Loose Traverse project. We will meet later in the year to set ourselves an agenda. And Anita wonders whether a symposium could be organised at Goldsmiths/CUCR devoted to John and his influence. Hope so!
Early warning: the next meeting will be on 1st June – too early for a mention on LIP Highlights. Material from Mike Seaborne and Ingrid Newton. More info will go to the mailing list. Peter Luck