06.Jul.2010 PsyGeo Workshop DAY THREE: Someone Else’s Shoes

Image by Ross

This workshop is essentially an opportunity to build a new urban awareness. It’s a toolbox full of fun, creative strategies for recreating yourself and exploring urban existence with new eyes. … We started with an historical intro to psychogeography and went on to discuss contemporary urban life and our personal perspectives on urban living. Then we actively explored the idea of the wander (aka a dérive) – taking loosely planned fieldtrips through various parts of the city, learning to be more conscious and critical of how constructed geographies influences our minds and behaviours, while simultaneously pushing ourselves to let go and drift with the poetry of spontaneous movement. … Having gained a certain level of understanding of the psychogeographical effects of our collective wanders, we’ve now entered the public role-playing stage of the workshop. Here we begin to learn how to mentally and physically transition into a kind of alternate personality; to figuratively step into someone else’s shoes and experience the city as someone else. We will continue to explore this technique as we prepare for a final interactive public role-playing scenario. (Stay tuned for more.) …