Thursday, July 28, 2011

Planking on the Embankment (and over the bridge)



Planking is this crazy thing that lots of people are doing that some friends of mine told me about on our last trip to the Lake District. Apparently it is an activity consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the internet is an integral part of the game. Players compete to find the most unusual and original location in which to play.The term planking is described as the practice of lying down flat with arms to the side, to mimic a wooden plank.

Many participants of planking since 2011 have photographed the activity on unusual locations such as atop poles, roofs and vehicles, while some "plankers" engage in the activity by planking only their upper body and feet while leaving the back suspended.

The lying down game is claimed to have been invented by Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon first becoming popular in North East England

The lying down game spread to the rest of the world, where it has also been known as "시체놀이" ("playing dead") "à plat ventre" ("On one’s belly", France 2004 "extreme lying down", (2008, Australia)"facedowns" (2010, USA and Ireland),and "planking" (2011, Australia & New Zealand and worldwide).