Mr Bingo’s long walk to nowhere

One day an artist decided to go for a walk. He didn’t have a plan, or even a destination – and yet he didn’t return home for two weeks. Jon Sharman spoke to him about getting lost in modern society, and the hope it inspired in the people he met

The artist Mr Bingo at his home in east London (Jon Sharman/The Independent)

Five months ago, in a different world, Mr Bingo left his east London flat and tried to get lost. It took 32 minutes.

Over two weeks the artist passed through fields, industrial estates and two major storms during an unorthodox walking holiday across southern and central England, ending up in Nottingham. Despite a faltering start – “I found myself in a Pret in Walthamstow and thought, ‘This is not the adventure I had planned’” – before long he was past the M25.

The open-ended trek was a break from workaholism and a way to combat general anxiety. “I decided at Christmas that I needed to take some time off and learn how to do other things in life, other than go to my studio every day,” he tells The Independent.