14
Papadimitriou ’ s Deep Topography ; the LRM ’ s ( Loiterer ’ s Resistance Movement ) Loitering With Intent ; and the dawdling of the Keele Dawdlers Walking Group . 4
To attempt to summarise psychogeography it is essential to reference the commonalities of these methodologies . Firstly , all employ a form of critical walking where practitioners attempt to suspend temporo-spatial urges ( i . e . reaching certain places within desired timeframes or conforming fully to blockages and re-routes ). Secondly the practitioner attempts to explore the environment while following the sensory , emotional and physical ambiances – what Coverley terms as ‘ zones that cannot be determined simply by architectural or economic conditions ’ 5 – of the selected space . Examples of this include following a scent to its origin ; turning right at a sign directing left ; and moving hyper-specifically such as not deviating from certain pathways even when physically blocked . While these are only a small selection of methods , each attempt to propel the practitioner into a state of drift , what the SI termed dérive . Dérive is categorised by aimless walking , a pedestrian act of resisting capitalist normalised movement patterns that restrict mobility to routes to and from sites of production and consumption . Instead of casually strolling to an intended destination , the psychogeographer responds to the ‘ solicitations of the terrain ’ to investigate the palimpsestic nature of space , as opposed to the conventional mythology of space as solely constituted of concepts such as : production value , monetary exchange and experiental worth . 6 By consciously challenging and experimenting with spatial grand narratives ( i . e . the socially accepted methods of movement within certain places ; the needs , values , and uses of mobilities ; or the conformity to ideological route-mapping designed to demarcate various human zones ) the psychogeographer can deconstruct the environment as a site of spatial , linguistic , cultural and economic contestation rather than a totalising concept such as ‘ the city ’, ‘ the town ’, or ‘ the park ’. This deconstruction can be achieved by using the notions of drifting , aimlessness , and active observation as flexibly or rigidly as they choose .
Psychogeography as Re-covering / Re-imagining
As much as the paragraphs above partially explain the methodologies used by psychogeographers , it is important to understand the motivations behind the methods in contemporary practice . Many practitioners are concerned with themes of reclamation and recovering ground that has been ‘ covered ’ or ‘ trodden ’ in unconnected and multiplicitous ways . The idea of hauntings – both personal and social , and of time existing outside of rigid narratives of past-present-future – permeate recent psychogeographical practice . Haunting is
4
An organisation of walking-writers at Keele University , of which I am a founding member .
5
Coverley , Psychogeography , 90 .
6
Guy Debord , Theory of Derive ( London : Atlantic Books . 1997 [ 1958 ]), 50