Modernism and Psychogeography

Although Modernism was emergng in the early 20th century, it didn’t really begin to take off (at least in terms of the architecture) until after the 2nd World War. The state that Europe was left in after the war ignited the need for new buildings and agriculture, large builds which were also conscious about space and location, this meant building tall, In Amsterdam for example, the modernistic building plans were a way of implementing a solution to the previous failure of architecture and a new way to meet simple social needs.

During the 1930’s 15% of society lived in poverty, which, according to sources, were described as ‘slums’. The new plans influenced by Modernism were a popular idea and used as a resolve to tackle ‘slums’ and the problems surrounding them.

The public began the era believing it was more successful than it was, this was because the strong aesthetics were linked with prosperity and progress.

The Bauhaus School of Design were actually teaching purity of form and design for a ‘better world’ – this world was supposedly purely going to be down to the new modern designs and was taught to students by Walter Gropius.

Paul Groenendijk and Piet Vollard – The Guide to Modern Architecture in The Netherlands: This is a book which has over 600 pictures and descriptions of notable buildings whcih mark the modernistic period in Amsterdams and The Netherlands. In the book its states ‘The Dutch government actually passed a legislative Act ‘The Housing Act 1901′ which stated that populated cities of over 10,000 had to create an expansion plan, and the council encouraged experimentation. This, in my eyes, opened the door to Modernism in Amsterdam and The Netherlands and explains a lot regarding the starnge and worderful building and the techniques used to build them

In relation to architecture urbanism is in sense a modernistic view on psychogeography. By building up, more people are able to be in a smaller geographical space, (Social Morphology). By putting people into a smaller location they drift through the city, this then becomes a derive.

 

Reference List:

http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/515/the-rise-and-fall-of-modernist-architecture Date Accessed: 29/01/15

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/02/a-mecca-for-modernists/377453 Date Accessed: 01/02/15

Paul Groenendijk, Architectural Guide To The Netherlands, NAI Publishers (2006).

Art and Situationist related to Psychogeography

The Situationist rejected all art that separated itself from politics, the concept of 20th-century art that is separated from topical political events. They believed that the notion of artistic expression being separated from politics and current events is one proliferated by reactionary considerations to render artwork that expresses comprehensive critiques of society impotent. They recognised there was a precise mechanism followed by reactionaries to defuse the role of subversive artists and intellectuals, that is, to reframe them as separated from the most topical events, and divert from them the taste for the new that may dangerously appeal the masses after separating them artworks where sterilized, degraded, and can be safely integrated into the official culture and the public discourse, where they can add new flavors to old ideas and play a role in the society of the spectacle.

According to this theory, artists and intellectuals that accept such compromises are rewarded by the art dealers and praised by the dominant culture. The Situationist received many offers to sponsor “creations” that would just have a “Situationist” label but a diluted political content that would have brought things back to order. The majority of Situationist continued to refuse such offers and any involvement on the conventional avant-garde. This principle was the way since their start. Reactionary forces forbid subversive ideas from artists and intellectuals to reach the public discourse, and they attack the artworks that express comprehensive critique of society, by saying that art should not involve itself into politics.

• Debord, G. (1957) Report On The Construction Of Situations And On The International Situationist Tendency’s Conditions Of Organization And Action [online] available from <http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/report.html&gt; [3 March 2015]

So how does Situationist relate to Psychogeography and derive, the Situationist became the ‘Psychogeographers’ trying to encourage people to explore their city and how they understand it. This is seen in the ‘mapping unities of a city’

An example of mapping of atmospheric unities of a city on the basis of ideas of the international Lettrist and Situationist movement. The map of Paris has been cut up in different areas that are experienced by some people as distinct unties (neighbourhoods). The mentally felt distance between these areas are visualized by spreading out the pieces of the cut up map. By wandering, letting onself float or drift (dériver is the French word used) each person can discover his or her own ambient unities of a specific city. The red arrows indicate the most frequent used crossings between the islands of the urban archipel (seperated by flows of motorized traffic).

Korsakov – Initial idea

My topic was about the theory of psychogeography and derive, I thought it would be a good idea if my group Korsakov project involved a video of a derive, giving the audience a taste of what a derive is. I thought that if they went on a derive on Korsakov it would also be interactive and allow the audience to have a virtual experience.

My groups initial idea was to create an interactive game based on dice rolls for deciding the direction of a derive, the problem with this is, it wouldn’t be a real derive. Because the audience isn’t making their own choice they are being guided down a set path, making the whole Korsakov video irrelevant. The original concept could be seen as a boring experience as there is no competition that drives the game further its just rolling and reading.

After further discussions, my group decided that if we started our Korsakov film with an engaging question or statement, we can then use our derive to explore that question, which then leads toward an end answer, which will be educational for our audience. The question we decided to use is ‘How does our perception of the city Amsterdam change depending on the way we travel in it?’ We asked this question because we felt it was a good area to explore. Amsterdam’s transportation varies widely from walking, cycling, catching a tram and catching a bus, all within the city. So then we wanted to explore how our perception of the city changes depending on how we travel. Do we feel safer depending on transport method? Do we feel the freedom to do as we please? Does it feel populated? These are the types of questions we mention to discover and answer within our interactive Korsakov film.

Psychogeography and Derive Presentation

My Groups Presentation, created on Prezi:

https://prezi.com/z9s1g7aa7vul/psycho-geographythe-derive-and-the-city/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=ending_bar_share

Coventry Handbook

Twenty years from now you will be disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

• Mark Twain (American Author)

During the module of 260mc we had workshops with a company called ludic rooms that handed us a handbook to Coventry city and things to see and do. The book is aimed at allowing ‘coventarians’ to go on a derive around the city and discover new areas and learn things about their city and because the reader is given instructions it does take them out of their comfort zone.

Within the handbook it has maps to draw in, it gives the reader instructions to follow with an area to write notes and allows them to create sound maps.

Derive explorative app

Looking into Derive I came across a smart phone internet app that you use while walking, the app gives you certain instructions that influence a derive, some examples of these are:

The apps primary goal is to help people explore their local city or the city they are in at the time. The random instructions ensure people are having a true derive and aren’t following their experience and knowledge of the city.

A trailer for the app:

 

Semiotics in relation to Physchogeography and Derive

Introduction

If you go into a bookshop and ask them where to find a book on semiotics you are likely to meet with a blank look. Even worse, you might be asked to define what semiotics is – which would be a bit tricky if you were looking for a beginner’s guide. It’s worse still if you do know a bit about semiotics, because it can be hard to offer a simple definition which is of much use in the bookshop. If you’ve ever been in such a situation, you’ll probably agree that it’s wise not to ask. Semiotics could be anywhere. The shortest definition is that it is the study of signs. But that doesn’t leave enquirers much wiser. ‘What do you mean by a sign?’ people usually ask next. The kinds of signs that are likely to spring immediately to mind are those which we routinely refer to as ‘signs’ in everyday life, such as road signs, pub signs and star signs. If you were to agree with them that semiotics can include the study of all these and more, people will probably assume that semiotics is about ‘visual signs’. You would confirm their hunch if you said that signs can also be drawings, paintings and photographs, and by now they’d be keen to direct you to the art and photography sections. But if you are thick-skinned and tell them that it also includes words, sounds and ‘body language’ they may reasonably wonder what all these things have in common and how anyone could possibly study such disparate phenomena. If you get this far they’ve probably already ‘read the signs’ which suggest that you are either eccentric or insane and communication may have ceased…

Chandler, Daniel. (2001/2007). Semio6cs: The Basics. London: Routledge

Semiotcs

The semiotics influence how you go about your travels. For example if you were to walk down the road and came to a set of traffic lights that were on red you will top and wait till safe to cross or you may look both left and right to see if there are any cars, if not you will cross. This brings me into Social morphology. By looking both left and right you used memory to determine if the road was safe to cross.

Strava, Psychogeography and Derive

Strava is an app used by many athletes to track their running and/or cycling, it monitors speed, distance, elevation, and averages it over multiple records. So how does this relate to Pyschogeography and Derive? Well within the app and online it has a GPS built in, assuming the recording device does, this allows users to track the route they take and see where they have been in the past. This is useful for Derives as it means users can track where they go and my group in-fact used it whilst in Amsterdam to track their own derives. Most likely an athlete will have pre determined the route but is useful if they did not and go on a Derive, knowingly or unknowingly.

The elevation aspect is also useful in relation to Pyschogeography as it monitors the geographical landscape and how in affected the journey of the user. See if they slowed down on hills or sped up on straights etc.

Some examples of my own Derives on a bike are:

 

As you can see in the last image it looks similar to a bird, this brings me onto Semiotics

Art and the City

http://prezi.com/embed/for_-o56vud0/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=0&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0#

So how does ‘Art and the city’ relate to Psychogeography and Derive.

On a surface level Art is influenced by the pyschogeography, the way the geographical landscape affects how art will be seen, an example would be street art, an artist could put his art on a wall or on a high rise, this is a choice the artist makes when looking. As an audience we are more likely to notice a piece of art in a more controversial place, like a high rise.

Looking deeper into architecture as art the geographical landscape influences have always been apparent, early civilisation would have concentrated on recourses such as water supply, rivers and lakes. And would have built around them. More recently the industrial revolution has had a massive affect on architecture, the development of factories and the work force. The building of terraced housing in grids meant factory owners could keep all their work force in one place close to the factory in affordable living. This is based on pyscho geography.

In respects of the Derive, art could be a reason for the Derive, setting out to see the art around the city, walking a random path to discover any and all work.

Early Civilisation. [online] Available at: http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0809222299/45391/WHistory1.html 02/03/2015

Life in industrial towns. [online] Available at: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/industrial_revolution_towns.htm 02/03/2015

Presentation Idea and Script

Presentation Notes

Presentation Script

There are two major influences on both psycho geography and derive.

These are Semiotics, the study of signs and symbols that convey understanding outside of speech. So a police officers hat or badge to symbolize he is a police officer.

And the second theory is human morphology the study of human distribution and organization across space, in this case Amsterdam and how using emotional memory it affects a derive.

So looking at semiotics and Derive, the semiotic influences how you go about your travels. For example if you were to walk down the road and came to a set of traffic lights that were on red you will top and wait till safe to cross or you may look both left and right to see if there are any cars, if not you will cross. This brings me into Social morphology. By looking both left and right you used memory to determine if the road was safe to cross.

Although social morphology uses memory to allow you to subconsciously determine the route of your derive, an example of how you use social morphology is: you are walking down a path and you come to a fork in the road, one path takes you through a run down part of the city and the other takes you round the new shiny district, you are more inclined to go the safe route due to the subconscious awareness of danger. This is social morphology. In the case of Amsterdam however you are simply inclined to walk on the path and not cross into the cycle lane due to danger of being hit.

Although with social morphology there are other influences on your journey, as cities expand new areas are build, these new areas mean locals have a new area to explore, a derive, however they will be influenced by certain things, could be new shops or a new park.