Friday May 1, 2009 Labor Day
Sunrise over Rome
The term psychogeography originated in Paris in the 1950s with Guy Debord and the Situationists and has been used to describe many ideas from alternate urban experiences to avant-garde experimentation. It is rooted in the work of the Dadaists and surrealists and focuses on getting outside of the self and the effects of the geographical environment. There are many words to describe a psychogeographer—walker, wanderer, stroller, stalker, drifter or flâneur. The act of walking with this perspective can not only be personally transformative, but also be a form of political radicalism. Many cities are increasingly hostile towards pedestrians and taking the time to walk and truly look at the city can be a subversive act.
Friday we all took to the streets. Every individual or group had a different route or concept for their walk. The walks could be anything from being guided by your shadow to following a map made by tracing a route from New York City onto a map of Rome. The walks helped us lose ourselves in the city—its movement, darkness, light, form, shape, detail and energy. The altered experience created a hyperawareness and a new perspective. We are in the process of creating a book detailing these psychogeographic experiences.
Comments