Called Timeout

I have still been thinking of how to get my information to the right audience by the right means, and I thought I’d set my sights high (why not). I thought “how about for my final piece, having all that I have found in ‘Timeout’ magazine?” so I called them.
I was put through the Arts department and spoke to a Jenny. She said off course ‘Timeout’ commissioned their own journalists but she gave me an email address and told me to email what my intentions were and they might be able to do something (so here’s hoping).

This is another response
Oh wow this sounds like an amazing project! I go on walks around London to explore all the time, though I don't remember where everything is I have seen...
The door in the top right here: http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y202/aliciaecm/Untitled1.jpg
is somewhere near the west end of Hackney Road. I think it's a pretty good door.
Also the tunnel that goes from Waterloo Station to the South Bank that's full of blue LED stars. I like that. Alicia Mitchell aliciaecm@gmail.com

Hi Ivy,
your email reminded me of i tree i have seen in clapham. If you walk on
the main road from clapham common towards clapham south, 2 minutes
down, on your right you will see the most interesting tree. It has a huge
bum shape and then two arms in the air.
Good luck with your project Rebecca Lucraft r.lucraft1@chelsea.arts.ac.uk

Responses

After sending emails to all those strangers, i didn't think I'd get any responses, but its been great. I've got about 20 responses so far. There are a variety of places recommended. Cemeteries seem to feature a fair bit.
these are a few of the replies I received:

Hi Ivy,
Nice project.
Karma Cabs is a taxi company that has cars kitted out with Indian décor, that play Indian music during your journey. You can also get a yoga lesson during the ride. Not a fixed ‘place’, but definitely a unique one.Emily Artinian emily@emilyartinian.com

Hello there Ivy my names chris im a first year, the best thing in
london is the north circular! its about a 10min bus journey from were i am
in cricklewood, I like the place because of its sawing flyovers but
thats not the best bit. the best bit is WOODCHIP MOUNTAIN! in short
woodchip mountain is an approxamatly 3 story high (when i last looked) pile of
chip wood, its some sort of recycling place, also the digger inside is
some sort of mutant hybrid, it has a massive claw and attached to the
back is a shredder that could eat mostly anything. truth.Chris Healy mindlabs@postmaster.co.uk

Have you heard about 'stink pipes'? or the underground rivers of
London? Philippa Tunstill p.tunstill@chelsea.arts.ac.uk

Off the top of my head, things I like:
Nunhead Cemetery, especially in the snow
The potato men on top of bus stops around Old Street
All the wonderful junk in the Montague Arms in New Cross
The oddly and amusingly shaped bollards on Bellenden Road in Peckham -
I believe they were designed by Anthony Gormley...
Hope that's vaguely helpful,Kate Sigrist leverdigris@gmail.com

As you're looking for actual substantial sites this may not be quite
what you're looking for but... the 'ski slope' in Haggerstone Park is a site
which doesn't exist, one of the A-Z map's ghost sites...emilia holt emiholt@hotmail.com

Help a girl out

I have been speaking to people and It has been quite effective. When i speak to people they are able to tell me the place or the thing in London that is important to them. In this way too, I know what kind of audience I'll be dealing with- in terms of age etc. It also does make my job easier (I'm not taking a lazy way out)
So what I have done is e-mailed as many people as i can (about 500 mostly taken from the Chelsea database)
I have also made some post cards that the public can take and reply and send back to me. Wandsworth libraries have kindly agreed to let me leave these in the library.

What now?

As GTS mentioned in my comments, "an important subtext to this project must be how do you get this new, undiscovered information to the right people by the right means".
This is something that is proving quite a challenge. Like GTS also mentioned, "What I can't do is work on collecting data and 'hope' that something comes from it" (you know me too well(?))
I have been looking at some of the possible ways to get it out there, being website pop ups, adverts on tubes/ local newspapers, a piece of direct mail, create a virtual tourist... But my only problem is, 'how do I know my audience if I don't have the info?' (duh Ivy). So I went on walks to see what I could find.
I reallt wanted to avoid central London, but it was the fist place I was pushed to. The first person i spoke to concerning this project told me about Marble Arch. Every one knows Marble Arch I thought to myself, but then i was informed that is here that London's old Tyburn Gallows stood.
With a history dating back to the 12th century, Tyburn was the hanging gallery of choice for the city's notorious criminals, petty thieves and political prisoners. There supposedly stands a marker on the local sidewalk where the Tree once stood, but a thorough search yielded (for me) nothing

The Brief?

Urban discovery

Ask anyone the important monuments in London and it is either ‘Trafalgar square’ or ‘Buckingham palace’. However London is full of lots of odd details that we as Londoners are not aware of.
My idea is to produce some sort of documentation for the local Londoner who does not realise what they have at their doorstep. (E.g. has anyone heard of the camel corps?)
I will need to create an Accompaniment to an exciting new urban discovery

Aim
Travel through London and explore and document all the interesting odd details I came across.
Ask locals what they find interesting/important in their community
Research into the history of the areas I come across.
(While I understand I cannot travel the whole of London in 14 weeks I do aim to go as further as I can. I will travel through all the boroughs in London and find the odd details in each borough so that in case one cannot travel on a long journey across the capital, they an exciting discovery locally)