34 Ways to Coca-Cola

Abstract

34 Ways to Coca-Cola is a set of 34 walking guides that map, using Google Street View, a route to a Coke in each of the 34 Bristols around the world. Acknowledging the ‘original’ Bristol in the UK’s history in the slave and sugar trade, this project aims to connect all the Bristols worldwide using Coca-Cola. The starting point for each guide is the coordinates given in the Wikipedia page ‘List of places called Bristol’ (Wikipedia, 2014), the end point the nearest petrol station, vending machine or beach café. Transposing the nineteenth-century form of the walking guide into a virtual space, this piece draws lines between the histories of slavery, sugar, mapping and place.