editing the city: socio-spatial subcultures as a critique of contemporary urban space
robert dutton
supervised by adam cowley-evans ba (hons) architecture
school of architecture and design, university of plymouth
i
‘Editing the City: Socio-Spatial Subcultures as a Critique of Contemporary Urban Space’ copyright © 2009 robert dutton. produced under supervision of adam cowley-evans for the ba (hons) architecture programme at the university of plymouth. nominated for the riba president’s medal 2009. the author is currently seeking a part i placement, for cv and examples of work please email me at robert.dutton@gmail.com published under the creative commons attribution-non-commercial-share-alike 2.0 uk: england & wales license, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ you are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and to make derivative works under the following conditions: attribution - you must give the original author credit. non-commercial - you may not use this work for commercial purposes. share alike - if you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a licence identical to this one.
abstract:
this paper is a discussion of the role of the user within architecture; an investigation of how users are not simply subject to architecture, but can generate it too. contemporary western cities are demonstrated to be ‘anti-cities’, oriented towards exchange values and lacking use values fundamental to urban life. socio-spatial subcultures (such as parkour, skateboarding, and graffiti) are shown to experience the city with a much greater sense of engagement, offering a diverse vehicle with which to explore the nature of spatial and architectural production within contemporary urbanity. this paper explores the means by which these subcultures engage with the city; demonstrating that these subcultures undertake a critique a critique of existing spaces, social practice, and power structures. practitioners perceive the urban environment in of new possibilities of use for their practice, and through the spatial actions inherent to the subcultures in turn produce new space through the gestures of their bodies. repetition of these gestures produces social rhythms, shown to be the ultimate generator of ‘place’. networks of socially produced places radically alter the social geography of the city for practitioners of these subcultures, revealing the means by which users are not only subject to the dynamics of existing urban structures but can construct a new syntax of the city for themselves. in exploring the subcultures the paper finds that they not only function as a negative critique of the nature of existing urban conditions, but in demonstrating dialectical methods of spatial and social production challenge hierarchical means of producing space and architecture and reveal possibilities of new forms of urbanism with which to re-engage with the city. key words: urbanism architecture user space rhythms place parkour skateboarding graffiti b-boying key references: henri lefevbre, michael de certeau, ian borden
“An author who teaches a writer nothing, teaches nobody anything. The determinant factor is the exemplary
character of a production that enables it, first, to lead other producers to this production, and secondly to
present them with an improved apparatus for their use. And this apparatus is better to the degree that it leads consumers to production, in short that it is capable of making co-workers out of readers or spectators.�
- Walter Benjamin, The Author as Producer, 1934
contents
acknowledgements vii
sources of illustrations ix introduction 1 chapter one: the document 6
chapter two: readings and annotations 11 chapter three: rhythms, additions and syntax 23 conclusion: subtractions and re-submissions 38
bibliography 42
appendix i: appendix ii:
definitions
interview with meek, graffiti writer
49
55
appendix iii: glossary in text
v
acknowledgements
It would not have been possible to conduct my research or write this paper without the input and assistance of many other people.
First and foremost I must gratefully acknowledge the contribution to the research made by Meek, Dom and Gaz,
for donating their time and knowledge through interviews in order to help me understand their subcultures, and also to Alex Ryley for his help with understanding skateboarding terminology.
I am also immensely grateful to the photographers who have given me permission to reproduce their images for
this paper, Ben Toomey, Mitch Lee, and Kit Thomas, Additional thanks must also go to the University of Plymouth Breakdance Club, for donating their used cardboard for use in binding this work.
Thanks must also go to the lecturers and staff of the University of Plymouth Architecture & Design Research
Group, whose extra-curricular seminars contributed greatly to the direction of this paper – in particular Dr.
Krzysztof Nawratek for awakening my interest in urbanism, and Adam Cowley-Evans for the thoughtful suggestions and academic supervision.
Finally, I should thank my family and friends, for their continued support and encouragement.
vii
sources of illustrations:
1.1 1.2
planet b-boy (2007) henry chalfant/martha cooper (1982) subway art p.91
2.1
‘rfc graphics’(2008) http://www.pbase.com/rfcd100/image/103020674/original.jpg
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.5
‘skateboarding skateboards’(2009) http://skateboarding.transworld.net/files/2009/03/07/me-7-stair-handrail.jpg don hogan charles (1971) subway art p.14 unknown (1975) skateboarding, space and the city p.31 andy day (2005) http://www.kiell.com andy day (2007) http://www.kiell.com ‘jason’ (2004) http://www.myspace.com/sk8daworld
4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9
‘frosti’ (2009) http://www.americanparkour.com/images/stories/ww_frostiscape.jpg authors own (2009) tanya nagar (2008) http://tanya-n.com/grafitti.JPG andy day (2006) http://www.kiell.com courtesy of ben toomey (2009) guy debord with asger jorn (1957) the situationist city p.60 http://pkhotspots.com (2009) authors own (2009) william hoiles (2008) http://www.flickr.com/photos/mannequin-/2496709272/
5.1
courtesy of kit thomas (2003)
6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4
jon lucas (2006) http://www.jonathanlucas.com/ mikko kautto (2007) http://www.flickr.com/people/themaukka/ ‘ironlak’ (2009) http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc282/ironlak/ ‘nelson’ (2009) http://www.flickr.com/people/nelsonbboying/
ix
figure 1.1 architecture space, time and social being
introduction This essay is primarily concerned with the relationship between socio-spatial subcultures and the contemporary city. By understanding the nature of the
interactions between the practitioners of these subcultures and the city, this paper presents these practices as a potentially rich field of research into praxes for the design of the city and urban space.
It is perhaps necessary first to outline what is meant by a ‘socio-spatial
skateboarding terminology bail/stack missing a trick or getting it wrong. this is when skateboarding gets painful. injuries coming to the head, ankles, knees and wrists. “you should have seen the blood, jones bailed on a 12 stair handrail”
subculture’. Sarah Thornton widely defines a subculture as a social group organised around a shared interest or practice, which distinguishes them against their wider culture1. A socio-spatial subculture is a subculture
which distinguishes itself from a larger culture through its very different use of social space.2 This very definition makes practices such as parkour,
skateboarding, b-boying and graffiti3 an ideal vehicle to investigate the city; their marginal status enables them to act as a critique.4
dialled a term used when a skater has got a trick near perfect, so it can be performed consistently with little error. “tim has got switch hardflips dialled man”
Fundamental to this paper is the notion that users are not simply subject to architecture, but participate in its production. The issue of passive
spectatorship versus active participation has been at the heart of urban life for the past two centuries,5 and this paper is positioned within this debate.
1 2 3 4 5
Gelder 1997:1 Lefebvre 1991:26 see appendix i (fold out) for definitions Borden 2001:1 Daskalaki 2008:60
flip tricks Using the ollie as the foundation, there are a vast array of flip tricks, which involve flipping the board and landing back on it. Common tricks include kickflip, heelflip, 360 (tre) flip, shovit, hardflip, frontside flip and varial flip.
1
grinding sliding parts of the board along the edges of obstacles and rails. it requires timing, balance and nerves of steel. “there’s no way anyone can keep their balance gridning down a 20 set”
In architectural discourse6 and pedagogy, the act of reading is commonly used
as a metaphor to describe how users interact with space, buildings and cities. Whilst benign in intent and (in the main) used to emphasise the importance
of accessibility and usability, spatial semiology is a limited analogy which
reduces space to the status of a message,7 and can be understood as a positivist approach based upon an arrogant assumption that the user is simply a passive receiver of pre-ordained stimuli designed by ‘The Architect’.
A metaphor of editing, however, places that user in the role of the producer
of architecture. It acknowledges that architecture is not only realised by the griptape the sandpaper like coating on the top of a deck, which allows for greater grip. “i just got these shoes, and now the grip tapes ripped them the shreds already”
architect, but exists as a product of space, time and social being.8 It is a
dialectical approach that recognises that architecture does not exist without
people, that buildings become architecture due to associated meanings,9 and that architecture is ultimately a process.10
This paper, therefore, is an investigation of the hypothesis that the actions
of the individuals and groups practising these subcultures edit the city; and by engaging with it undertake a richer experience of the city. The process of
editing is intrinsically a critical act, so close analysis of the process will manual balancing on the back two wheels of the board, similarly a nose manual involves balancing on the front two. combinations of manuals involve flip tricks in and out of manuals, for example ‘nollie flip manual kickflip out’.
22
reveal an understanding of how these users engage with the city.
Whilst the socio-spatial practices concerned are the subject of comparatively
little academic inquiry, the practices implicitly question our understanding of 6 7 8 9 10
Jencks 1976 Lefebvre 1991:7 Borden 2001:1 Nawratek 2008b Foucault 1972
perception, spatial production, structure, temporality, transience, location, ownership and identity in relation to the contemporary city11 - thus offering
an opportunity within which to ground the work. Writings on the body, space and urbanity by authors such as Henri Lefebvre, Guy Debord, Marc Auge and Michel de Certeau, and historical accounts of their work such as those by Simon Sadler,
are used alongside more contemporary works by Ian Borden and others, providing an academic framework within which these practices will be analysed.
ollie compressing weight donwards on the kicktail and sliding the front foot up while jumping results in the board leaving the ground. this is the foundation of all skating tricks, allowing boarders to jump onto ledges, down stairs and off ramps. it also forms the foundation for flip tricks.
Placed within this framework, interviews with practitioners and observations of the practices provide the majority of material for analysis from primary
sources, with emphasis being placed on investigating the contemporary mode of the practice being discussed. Video documentaries, ethnographies, monographs
park skating
of each particular subculture as a whole. As in Skateboarding, Space and the
Skating in specially built skateparks. Skateparks often have half pipes, a ‘U’ shaped ramp which skaters can build up momentum from side to side to air out the top.
and online forums are used as supporting evidence and to gain an understanding City, many statements and discussions are taken at face value without adequate
critique, to be used as evidence or illustration.12 In justification, the author
has past and present encounters with all of the practices concerned, and assumes sufficient knowledge in order to prevent false statements being presented as fact.
This paper begins with a record of contemporary urbanity: the document. Then, taking the literary process of editing as a loose paradigm, the processes by
which these practices engage with the city are explored. Chapter two (readings and annotations) is an examination of the specific actions which define these
street skating using urban spaces for the purpose of skatboarding. This can include handrails, stairs, ledges, banks and obstacles to create unique lines throughout an urban environment.
11 Bavinton 2007:391 12 Borden 2001: 4
3
switch When a skater changes their stance, so that they are skating with their opposite foot forward. Switch tricks are more challenging as it is akin to writing with your wrong hand, so more kudos is afforded to tricks performed switch.
socio-spatial practices, which is developed in chapter three (rhythms, additions & syntax) to explore the implications of these actions on a larger scale
(both spatially and temporally). Finally, the conclusion (subtractions and
re-submissions) presents these subcultures as practices which fundamentally
question current approaches to producing architecture, which not only function as a negative critique but also offer a rich model with which to explore
alternative methods of political, social, economic and cultural organisation; indeed a model with which to address the concerns of the contemporary city.
graffiti terminology all city graffiti writer who has covered the city with their name; “seen is up on every train on every line, he’s all city”
battle competition between writers, either pieces (quality) or tags (quantity), on the street or at an organised competition; “project cee is battling at the voodoo lounge club this thursday”
44
figure 1.2 (opposite) graffiti on subway trains running through new york. these ‘top to bottom whole cars’ are the most accopmplished pieces a writer can produce
bite plagiarism, copying another writer, either a single piece, their name, or their personal style of graffiti “did you catch that flying eyeball thing by kid panama?” “yeah, it’s nothing new; i’ve seen it before - he’s biting.”
chapter one: the document In the past 200 years, post-industrial conditions have fundamentally altered the nature of cities as exchange values have subordinated the use values fundamental to the city and urban reality.1 The ‘hegemonic authoring’2 of the city as place of consumption ensures economic imperatives supersede all others. Advertising
manipulates the desires of the consumer through the spectacle, mediating social
discourse through images.3 As a character in Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel ‘Fight Club’ suggests, the economic system and culture of consumer-capitalism has “an black book sketch book a writer uses to design their graffiti and plan new pieces “we’re off to the writers bench; bring your black book”
entire generation, working jobs they hate ... to buy shit they don’t need.”
dominance of this globalised economic system has resulted in massive social,
The
political and cultural upheaval, the consequence a complete subversion of the structure of contemporary urbanity:
“The largest cities in the world, the true mega fauna of modern urbanism,
political institution”
are anti-cities – if we consider the city as above all an effective
blockbuster huge characters often used to take up as much space as possible, consisting of a background fill, block outline and drop shadow for emphasis “iz the wiz covered that car with his blockbusters”
66
- Paul Hirst, Space and Power: Politics, War and Architecture
Thus the historical definition of a ‘city’ is becoming redundant as public
(political) spaces are gradually replaced by private capitalist spheres5 - or even outlawed.6 1 2 3 4 5 6
Lefebvre 1996:67 Nolan 2003:314 Debord 1992 Hirst 2005:25 Nawratek 2008a See Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, Sections 132-38, in which protest without police permission within a mile of the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall was made illegal.
4
Within these private capitalist spaces ‘inappropriate’ (i.e. non-commercial
or political) behaviours are passively and actively discouraged - commercial
imperatives define acceptable behaviour,7 excluding those who detract from the consumption experience. Defining these private capitalist spaces as ‘adult’ spaces discourages social (adolescent) behaviour.8
bomb covering an area with a tag, throwups, dubs, using spray paint or ink marker “the insides of this train are saturated, it’s been bombed”
Spatial conditions have not only been altered on the scale of the street but on the meta scale of the urban too. In the UK, The Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 created the Ministry of Planning, in which the architect Sir Patrick
Abercrombie lead a team of consultants in producing urban plans which demolished
bombing
existing urban grains and redesigned entire cities. Segregation of programmes
going out to write graffiti
outwards to the periphery, and the ‘inner city’ being divided into ‘quarters’
“dunno,i’m probably going out bombing with drax”
was the key to these new city centres, with residential areas being pushed
for retail, leisure and so forth.9 Separating the habitation from the centre
“what you up to tonight?”
would be the ring road, from which all vehicular traffic would be distributed. The exception would be the centre, which would be pedestrianised in order
to ensure the user’s safety - protection from the motor car being paramount
to ensuring this.10 Indeed, as the motor car has become the dominant form of
transport, a change of culture has taken place, with even pedestrian streets
primarily seen as spaces of motion – transportation - rather than interaction.11 As a result, that essential urban component – ‘the street’ – has disappeared along with ‘the public place’. 7 8 9 10 11
Nolan 2003:319 Nolan 2003:319,320 Gould 2009 Gould 2009 Sennett, in Bridge 2002:343
bubble letter often used for throwups; simple, balloonish letters, easy to do quickly “have you seen fork’s new piece? the bubble letters are looking insane.”
7
buff
In more recent years, CCTV has become more prevalent as another means to
chemically cleaning graffiti from the surface of a train or wall
‘safeguard’ the pedestrian, as they wander alone at night through the empty
“my piece was running all over the line for two weeks until it got buffed”
centres - empty due to the programmes of housing, entertainment and leisure
being exported to other areas of the city. In a further Orwellian twist, many
British towns and cities recently introduced giant ‘telescreens’ into the urban centres, creating low quality urban spaces across the country.12 Many English
cities could now be described as ‘cappuccino cities’ – branded, tasteless and without any substance.13
burn doing better than anything or anyone else “check out that piece on the roof over there, it burns everything else around it”
As a result of the hegemonic authoring14 of the city as place of consumption, the majority of users do not critically engage with space; spatial (social) practice is dominated by the representation of space15 maintained through the spectacle.16 These conditions have occurred without the consent of anyone but middle aged
males;17 the planning process excludes the views of young people, alienating and preventing them from participating in the city.18
The practices of skateboarding, parkour, graffiti and b-boying represent an
opportunity of interaction for adolescent males - a means of revolt, a prospect of recovering the world of differences;19 and as subsequent chapters will show, these unique modes of spatial practice could offer a tantalising glimpse into burner an accomplished piece of graffiti “that new top-to-bottom by duster is a real burner, best on the line”
8
the components of an as yet unknown, future city.20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
CABE 2008 Gould, 2009 Nolan 2003:314 Lefebvre 1991:39 Debord 1992 Nolan 2003:314 Nolan 2003:314 Lefebvre 1991:50 Borden 2001:173
figure 2.1 anti-city existing as a base for global corporations, citizens only particpate through economic sphere
figure 3.1 a skater grinds the rail of a set of stairs
chapter two: readings and annotations
cap nozzle on a spray paint can, which come in many different varieties and can be purchased independently
“Me and my brother would be in the back of the car, and we’d be, like, ‘Look at those stairs!’ and our mum wouldn’t understand. Why should we be interested in a set of stairs?”
- ‘Meek’, graffiti writer (on skateboarding), Interview
“there’s nothing that beats the feeling of running around the city bombing with a fat cap on a can of paint”
In contrast to the normative appraisal of public space as a place of
consumption,1 practitioners of socio-spatial subcultures reject exchange values in favour of use values,2 visually critiquing their environment in terms
of the affordance it provides for their activity.3 Graffiti writers classify
crack fill
trains according to their ease of painting,4 and traceurs (practitioners of
throwup without a fill in, often used as a dis; whatever is underneath is visible but damaged
parkour) describe their particular process of analysing lines5 and architecture as ‘Parkour Vision’.6 Johann Vigroux, a French traceur, explains in the
2003 documentary ‘Jump London’ that he sees the city as a playground. This
“i spent hours doing that window-down at the weekend, and two days later cap went over it with a crack fill”
allusion to viewing space from the point of view of childhood is replicated in skateboarding.
“Two hundred years of American technology has unwittingly created a
massive cement playground of unlimited potential. But it was the minds of 11 year olds that could see that potential.”
- Craig Steyck, skateboarder, Skateboarding, Space and the City
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Nolan 2003:319,320 Borden 2001:239 Bavington 2007:397 Chalfant 1984:23 a potential route Brown 2008 in Borden 2001:173
7
crew group of affiliated writers, usually represented by members who add a three letter acronym to pieces painted together “yml are the best crew without a doubt. no-one can touch them.”
11
cross out putting a line through another writers name as an insult “if you cross me out once, i’ll go back over you. cross me out again and i’ll take every where you’ve got, you won’t be able to paint anywhere in this city without me crossing you out”
But what is it about a ‘childlike’ means of analysis that makes the analogy so prevalent within these subcultures?
Whilst ‘adult’ space is regarded as
space for consumption, children do not want to consume objects but make and 8
modify them, and as far as possible, remodel their environment too.9 So children analyse space in terms of their affordance for production, modification and
appropriation. The childlike means of analysis is reflected in the attitudes towards objects and space related by the interviewees of this paper.
“You look at things differently because of how you work. You see it as a potential canvas, whereas other people see it as just a wall... you’re
just constantly looking everywhere you go, everywhere [has] a potential, dis disrespecting or insulting other writers “someone needs to teach split a lesson, all he does is dis ramo and cross him out”
you know, there’s always a potential spot... you’re always looking for a spot to get up and paint so that people can see it from miles around”
- ‘Meek’, graffiti writer, Interview
Meek implicitly associates his means of analysis – reading – with his actions – annotation. It is difficult to separate the two processes, as they form a
reciprocal process whereby his actions have formed his means of analysis; a
dialectal analysis.10 But where do the stimuli originate and what inspired Meek’s dope a positive adjective, cool, good – see fresh “krylon paint is dope. It gets into all the cracks of the surface; they will never be able to completely buff your piece once it’s up”
12 12
initial action?
“[We] used to just skate in all these skate parks which were just
covered in graffiti... My friend Jeriah had been painting, well been 8 Nolan 2003:315 9 Jones, in Holloway 2000:34 10 Lefebvre 2004:12
figure 3.2 representation as inspiration graffiti, parkour, skateboarding and breakdancing have all exploded in popularity when given mainstream exposure within the popular press, as new converts seek to emulate what they see and read
down
[sic] tagging11 for a long time, well since he was about 9 or something, and we just went and got a load of paint...and just decided we would
in, part of the group
start painting.”
“who’s the toy, no-one told me he was coming” “relax, he’s down with us”
- ‘Meek’, graffiti writer, Interview
The influence of representation plays a substantial role in the production
of space,12 and in this case, the representations of the act of graffiti (the
graffiti itself) inspired ‘Meek’ to produce his own graffiti. Parallels can be drawn with other socio-spatial subcultures. The early skateboarders of the dub
1970’s, for example, drew heavily upon the practice of surfing for inspiration.13 Skaters would appropriate the topology of downtown Los Angeles, making use of
a simple graffiti form consisting of an outline with a silver or gold fill in
the concrete banks of deserted school playgrounds to emulate the motions of
“i was out bombing my neighbourhood when i found saw some cans in a bin – there was only enough paint for a couple of dubs though”
was water.14
surfing; turning, sliding and running their hands along the concrete as if it
These actions produce a space (an annotation) - a product of the skater’s re-enactment of surfing through the dynamic intersection of body, board
and terrain.15 This is a ‘natural’ space produced first from the body and the gestures of the body16 but then also from the relationship between end-to-end a complicated, full colour piece of graffiti covering the entire length of a train carriage, very time consuming to produce “the guards at this yard me and my crew go to are so slack, you could do an end-toend in broad daylight between their patrols”
14 14
the skateboarder and the architecture.17 It is a dialectical production of
space, produced from the relationship between the action and the terrain.18 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Simple graffiti form, writing the artists signature (usually a pseudonym ) in marker or spray paint Lefebvre 1991:42 Dogtown & Z-Boys, 2001 Borden 2001:31 Borden 2001:96 Lefebvre 1991:170 Borden 2001:107 Borden 2001:108
figure 3.3 social practice as production of space jay adams recreating the motions of surfing with his body and board
figure 3.4 the user as producer creating a body space, negating the barriers between abstract spaces and extending the body space created by the pedestrians below
Annotations not only produce a natural (body) space but can negate divisions between abstract spaces. Typically, rails determine a division between two abstract spaces, offering a guide for both the gaze and the body along a specified path.19
When a traceur (practitioner of parkour) vaults
a rail, multiple spaces are created. First a body space is created by the
gesture (action) of the traceur. Secondly, a super-architectural space20 is
fills the interior details of a graffiti piece. usually a single shade in a dub or throwup, with more complicated designs for pieces “you do the outlines, i’ve got a technique i want to try for doing the fills”
created through the interaction of the body space and the rail. This super-
architectural space negates the divisions between the abstract spaces, creating a meta-space within which the body, super-architectural and abstract spaces become simultaneously complimentary spaces.21
freights
The annotations are a product of use value22 rather than exchange value,
cross country goods trains, usually transporting containers
tactic described by Michael de Certeau24 as an appropriation of previously
“i cut myself getting down the embankment, but it was worth it to get up on those freights”
addressing the city as an oeuvre;23 and can be viewed as a form of spatial
commoditised space for non-consumptive use; the practitioners of these socio-
spatial subcultures “know how to deny evidences; to keep a critical acumen”,25
ignoring the conventional, programmed signal of an object26 and going beyond the limits of that object set in its signal.27
As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, the annotations which lead to
the creation of this meta-space not only affect the spaces themselves but also 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Day 2003:8 Borden 2001:89 Day 2003:8 Lefebvre 1991:75 Lefebvre 1991:66 Bavington 2007:397 David Belle (originator of parkour) in Daskalaki 2008:58 Borden 2001:192 de Certeau 1994:98
fresh original, well executed piece of graffiti; the epitome of style “did you see that wildstyle that sab and kaze put up? It’s fresh”
17
figure 3.5 expertise building upon shared experience, the subcultures exceed themselves collectively
the actor’s perception of space. The change in a practitioner’s perception does
getting up
not instantly occur the moment that a person produces an annotation for the
getting your name ‘up’ over as wide an area as possible; to get fame. see ‘all city’
first time, but is actually a gradual process built upon numerous repetitions of annotations in a variety of locations.
“i can’t stop myself, it’s an addiction. my whole house, my room is covered; my street and my school. all i ever think about is going bombing and getting up all over new york”
“It’s all about experience. With practice the eye comes to analyse, here is a good location, here is a bad location. Here is a location which is rich in obstacles”
- Sebastien Foucan, traceur, Jump London
28
The repeated annotations of the traceur have informed his means of determining
going over
which spaces offer the most affordance for parkour, in conjunction with the
covering (sometimes only partially) someone else’s work with your own
the images of the actions and the practice of these socio-spatial subcultures
“well, the battle started when he did his tag next to mine, but went over me, and so obviously i started looking for his tags, and starting going over his stuff, and it just got out of control”
role that representations play in informing perceptions and actions. In essence, combine to form a ‘lived image’29 constructed and enacted by the actions and representations of actions within the subcultures own limited circles.30
Conventionally, representations of space play the dominant role in producing
space,31 influencing social practice through the semiology of representational space and the spectacle. Socio-spatial subcultures, however, tend to offer a
symbiotic relationship between representations of space, spatial practice and
representational – lived – space.32 In effect, the lived image provides the means for seeking out representational spaces and re-enforcing their representational qualities through social practice. It is a self-perpetuating, anarchic form of producing space, an appropriation of the spectacle of representational space, 28 29 30 31 32
Jump London 2003 Borden 2001: 125 Day 2003:2 Lefebvre 1991:42 Lefebvre 1991:39
grass a police informer; “if you’re going into a yard, you’ve got trust whoever you’re going with isn’t gonna be a grass if they get caught”
19
hardcore a highly active or reckless writer “mister earl? he’s hardcore. all he has done and all he ever will do is be a tagger.”
negating it and subverting it for the practitioner’s own needs.
The lived image (the interweaving of the analysis of space with the production of space) represents an evolution of the 19th century flaneur and 20th century
psychogeographer,33 in which practitioners of socio-spatial subcultures do not simply experience the spaces of the city but produce them too. This dialectic or even anarchic form of producing and experiencing space is perhaps the first possible component of that as yet unknown, future city.34
hot a place dangerous to do graffiti because it’s closely guarded or busy “after the BTP started putting in dog patrols around the yards they became too hot, so we had to find a new way of getting to the trains”
insides tags executed over the inside a subway train “no matter which train you catch in london, you can guarantee tox will be up on the insides”
20
33 Shahani 2008 34 Borden 2001:173
figure 3.6 (opposite) denying evidences appropriating a safety ramp as a means of propelling oneself skywards; appraising the city as an oeuvre
figure 4.1 secret space an interactive, three dimensional cityscape
chapter three: rhythms, additions and syntax
kill to bomb excessively “i would be going through thirty, forty cans a night, just killing it, walking miles every night tagging everything i could”
“It’s such a rush to be places where the only other people who have touched it were the people who just built it then left it...and you can stare at all the people down on the street and not one of them will notice you...they’re all so stuck in their own world.”
- ‘Livewire’ discussing rooftops, traceur, Point B
1
In the previous chapter this paper discussed the role of the urban environment
king
participants appropriate objects and terrains to produce space and enact their
the highest compliment a writer can receive in graffiti; recognises him/her as the most accomplished or proflific writer
‘seemingly brief’2 actions in turn affect the urban topology, in order to
“there were only probably about two or three people who i’d really consider kings, and they were all in my crew”
in enabling the actions of the socio-spatial subcultures in terms of how
respective subcultures. The paper now turns to examine the inverse - how these investigate the means by which these subcultures not only construct identities of place but in doing so can radically alter, and even create new, spatial syntaxes of the city.
This paper will return to discuss the notion of ‘place’ within the chapter,
but will first expand upon the role of ‘experience’ in constructing the lived images of these subcultures. This ‘experience’, in essence, is constituted
of ‘rhythms’3; a combination of both cyclical (temporal) and linear (spatial)
repetitions.4 The rhythms of these socio-spatial subcultures are (like the superarchitectural spaces of the first chapter) generated from the gestures of the
line underground or railway route “drax has definitely bombed the most on the northern line”
body - specifically, repetitions of gestures. These rhythms occur wherever there 1 2 3 4
Point B, 2009 Day 2003:10 Lefebvre 2004:6 Lefebvre 2004:8
23
outline the line silhouetting a piece, throwup or dub “i try to do sharp outlines & really dark, crisp shadows, so the piece jumps off the wall”
is an interaction between a place, time and expenditure of energy.5
Skateboarders both accelerate their spatial (linear) rhythms (overtaking slower pedestrians6) and create cyclical rhythms, spending more time in locations that others hurry through.7 Indeed, practitioners can even revisit locations several times in a single day – a synthesis of cyclical rhythms and linear rhythms
- creating a rhythm of occupation, a social (natural) rhythm withdrawn from abstract (linear) time.8
piece a large, time consuming work of graffiti, short for masterpiece “i got bored of tagging, it’s a natural progression. I get more out of these huge pieces, i get to play around with my style a lot more”
stealing/shoplifting, usually expensive spray paints “the paint got locked up in new york, so we take the train out to new jersey and just rack paint, hundreds of cans at a time”
24 24
to the city, skate around, find some new spots then head back to Camden”
- Arron Bleasdale, skateboarder, Skateboarding, Space and the City
9
These social rhythms are found within other subcultures. On one end of the
scale, b-boys and b-girls spend many hours in a single location, and once a suitable location is found, will return to it repeatedly:
“There’s only a few places we can go, so we do go back to them. We’d
the day, get some food, beers...and actually make a day of it”
rack
“Meet up at Cantalowes [Camden skate spot] with some people, then head out
normally spend about three hours, but I’d like to set up in the middle of - Gaz, b-boy, Interview
Similarly, graffiti writers develop favourite locations, to ‘bomb’, coming back to it many times: 5 6 7 8 9
Lefebvre 2004:12 Borden 2001:196 Borden 2001:198 Lefebvre 2004:96 Borden 2001:198
figure 4.2 reclaiming the streets introducing social rhythms into mono-rhythmic space
rollers using a paint roller to do your name as big as you possibly can, sometimes leaning off the edge of a building to do it from the top down “we crept up the fire escape with our paint and tools, counted out the paces for the letters and painted blockbusters, now there’s no way anyone else could get up there to go over us”
scar graffiti that is still faintly visible after being buffed “like i was saying, use krylon. the MTA tried to buff my piece but the scar is still coming through”
“Plenty of nights we spent in there, sundown to sunrise, pulling all
pieced up [sic].”
nighters...we wouldn’t leave ‘til every can was empty. Every truck was - ‘Rebel’, graffiti writer, All City
10
At the other end of the scale, a graffiti writer may spend only seconds writing
their ‘tag’ (a signature) in marker pen before moving on to write it elsewhere. The ultimate objective of graffiti for most writers is ‘Getting Up’, or writing
your name over as large an area as possible11 Tags play a large role within this, as the writer’s ‘identifying logo’12 and can be written quickly, enable a writer to get their name ‘up’ in many locations quickly; they will often walk many miles a night to mark their spots.13
A tag is not the only means by which a graffiti writer will use to get ‘up’. A
‘throw up’ is also a quickly painted name, consisting of an outline and optional stencil another form of street art, using a pre-cut template to spray paint illustrations or messages. not a form of graffiti, although often mispresented as such “did you see that new banksy stencil? it’s incredibly witty, original and observant.” “yes, it really made me question the nature of our consumer culture. i wonder if there’s any prints going on ebay, it would look good in the conservatory”
26 26
fill.14 A step up from the throw up is the ‘dub’, characterised by the silver or gold fill-in.15
These obviously take more time than a tag. A larger version of a
dub is a blockbuster, characterised by larger, monotone letters designed to take up as much space as possible. Taking longest of all is the ‘piece’ (short for masterpiece); a larger, more elaborate, colourful and stylistically demanding depiction of a writer’s name.16 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Paul 107 McDonald Chalfant McDonald Chalfant McDonald McDonald
2003:150 2001:76 1984:68 2001:76 1984:27 2001:77 2001:78
Due to competition for space,17 writers will go over another writer’s work in order to ‘get up’. This is frowned upon unless a writer can ‘burn’ (i.e. do
better than) the work they go over;18 a throw-up will generally burn a tag; a dub will burn a throw up; a blockbuster, a dub; a piece, a blockbuster; and a nicer piece, an uglier piece.19,20 But if someone ‘crosses out’ someone else, or goes
style see fresh; a writer whose work is consistently original and uniquely distinguishable as theirs “kase 2 is the king of style, everyone’s biting what he’s doing, it’s insane”
over a piece which took many hours with a simple dub then this causes ‘beef’
(confrontation) between writers, where writers will continuously go over each
other wherever they can find them,21 fighting ‘on the wall’ - assault meets assault and blow layers on blow, over and over and over...until tensions reach their peak and things finally start to wind down.
22
Thus the successive layers of works on a wall create a cyclical rhythm of material oeuvres; writers go over each other in a ‘battle’ striving
against their peers; against successive generations of writers (a ‘toy’
tag a writers signature, usually a pseudonym executed in spray paint or ink marker “i always carry a marker with me, always. it’s a bug, an itch i can’t scratch, i just can’t get rid of the urge to tag my name everywhere i go”
is an inexperienced/incompetent writer, who will often ignorantly go over
more experienced writers in order to ‘get up’); and also against municipal
authorities who will ‘buff’ (chemically wash) walls and trains to remove the oeuvres.23
throwup
Recorded within these works are the stories of the graffiti writer’s life; 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Chalfant Paul 107 Paul 107 McDonald Paul 107 McDonald Chalfant
1984:29 2003:174 2003:81 2001:209 2003:87 2001:1 1984:100
simple graffiti form, executed quickly in order to cover as much space as possible. usually bubble letters “i would wander the streets of a different area of the city each day, doing nearly a hundred throwups a night”
27
figure 4.3 complexity and contradition rhythms of oeuvres producing space as practiced place
who they are,24 who they have been battling against;25 who they have been
battling alongside - writers often form ‘crews’ (a group) with other writers;26
essentially theses oeuvres trace the cyclical rhythms of the rises and fall27 of a writer’s career, and offer a means of communication between writers.28
The deliberate oeuvres of the graffiti writer’s spray can are not the only observable material (or physical) traces produced by these socio-spatial
subcultures. Frequently, both skateboarding and parkour leave marks where
top-to-bottom a piece reaching from the top of a train carriage to the bottom “yeah we did the first blockbusters ever, everyone was doing window-downs until we came along with our blockbusters and started doing top to bottoms.”
their practitioners have been. When skateboarders ‘grind’ the trucks of their
skateboards along the edges of walls and street furniture, they leave gouges and striations that ultimately lead to the rounding off or breaking up of edges; whilst urethane wheels and painted deck graphics leave technicolour streaks across walls, ledges and benches.29
Likewise, when traceurs jump onto or climb
up walls during the course of practising parkour they can occasionally leave
rubber footmarks; or scuff clean previously dirty walls. These marks can tell their own story:
“You can tell where the more experienced traceurs have been, ‘cause they
can before they vault across and you can see this at the top, where the
24 25 26 27 28 29
don’t try and vault over the wall so soon...they go up as far as they footmarks are less dense” McDonald 2001:194 Chalfant 1984:29 Paul 107 2003:10 McDonald 2001:218 McDonald 2001:203 Borden 2001:208
- Dom, traceur, Interview
toy a young, inexperienced or artistically incompetent writer “yeah i remember him. he had no style,all he ever did was go over everyone else with his stupid throwups to get attention, and then gave up after a year anyway. he was a toy.”
up an active writer who has a noticeable amount of ‘work’ “who’s up at the moment?” “kilo’s doing some fresh stuff”
29
figure 4.4 foot marks in france a esoteric palimpsest
whole car Through the articulation of stories unique to their own limited circles,
these socio-spatial subcultures reveal to us the means by which ‘place’ is
constructed. The rhythms and oeuvres of these subcultures form a palimpsest,30
legible to practitioners but beyond comprehension for the average city dweller.31 A ‘place’ is a fragmentary and inward turning history, pasts that ‘others’ are not allowed to read, accumulated times that...remain in an enigmatic
a piece covering the entire surface of a train carriage “the ultimate rush is to get a top-to-bottom whole car running on the line. nothing beats it, it’s beautiful to see this full-on art with loads of colours rushing past you at 60mph”
state, symbolisations encrusted in the pains and pleasures of the body.32 By
understanding the dialectic relationship of space as a ‘practiced place’,33 we
can see how, through their annotations, rhythms and works, these socio-spatial
subcultures carry out a labour that constantly transforms places into spaces and spaces into places.34
In producing the annotations, rhythms, oeuvres and places central to their
respective subcultures, the practitioners can fundamentally alter the structure – the spatial syntax – of the city through the creation of new places, and
through programmatic and physical links between said places. Perhaps the most literal representation of this is the routes constructed by traceurs as they undertake a parkour ‘run’ through the urban topology.
“Draw a straight line on a map of your home town. Start from point a, and go to point b.” 30 31 32 33 34 35
de Certeau 1994:108 McDonald 2001:2 de Certeau 1994:108 de Certeau 1994:117 de Certeau 1994:118 Jump London 2003
wildstyle complex style of piece characterised by angular interlocking letters “when i’m doing it for the public, i use bubble letters; when i’m doing something for the other writers in the city, i use wildstyle”
window down a piece painted underneath the windows of a train carriage “i didn’t have enough paint to do the top-to-bottom, so i did this window down that i’ve been planning for a while”
- Sebastien Foucan, traceur, Jump London35
31
writer someone who does graffiti “you need to be getting up constantly to earn any respect and be able to call yourself a writer”
The routes are forms of desire path.36 Like most desire paths, they are a means of connecting spaces using the shortest possible route, the crucial difference being that the route is selected not upon the principle of avoidance of obstacles but on the availability of the ‘obstacles’ along the path.
“Do not consider the elements (barriers, wall, wire fences, trees, houses, buildings) as obstacles. Hug them: climb, get over, jump: let your imagination flow”
parkour terminology arm jump a jump accross a gap which is too far to wide land conventionally, so the arms are used to grab the top of the far side and pull your body up “i’m always the one who ends up putting their hand in something awful when i do an arm jump”
- Sebastien Foucan, traceur, Jump London37
These routes are a form of tour based upon actions, movements and itineraries, rather than a traditional Cartesian map (de Certeau 1994:119). The syntax of
these routes is three dimensional, producing space through the gestures of the body, joining vertical and horizontal planes of motion in the course of their runs, and through social rhythms producing a place, an identity. The combined annotations, rhythms, places and routes, produce a further geographic aspect of their subcultures, constructing a city from their experiential reality.38 When doing so, traceurs present themselves as a form of psychogeographer,39
enacting in their practice the coming together of space, knowledge and social
interaction,40 treating the city as a ‘found object’41 and constructing syntaxes bail “you missed a good bail the other day, rob forgot to put his legs out on an arm jump and crashed straight into the wall - he was only winded though”
32 32
of participation.42 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
Bachalard 1994 Jump London 2003 Atkinson 2009:12 Shahani 2008 Sadler 1999:98 Sadler 1999:117 Sadler 1999:110
figure 4.5 up constructing a new route through the urban topology
figure 4.6 (below) the naked city
guy debord and asger jorn mapped paris according to psychogeographic intensity of the environments and situations they encountered, using arrows to signify connections and directions of travel through areas which were sensually bland, such as major routes and commercial areas
figure 4.7 (right) liverpool parkour hotspots
traceurs from liverpool have utilised an online mapping tool to locate areas of the city which offer good affordance for parkour, similar to debord, making editing decisions about what to include in the collective social geography of the city
However, it is not only these physical routes which are produced by these subcultures which create syntax. Similarities between places (articulated
through rhythms) form a metaphysical syntax, similar to the psychogeographic maps of Guy Debord and Asger Jorn, as programmatic similarities effectively
negate the distances that separate two regions of the city; distances that have very little to do with the physical distance between them.43 The rhythms of
these subcultures - consisting of rhythms of annotations, rhythms of oeuvres and rhythms of space - create place, and through constructing a new syntax produce a social geography of the city.44
cat pass a vault in which the traceur dives forwards over an obstacle, places their hand on in, and pulls their legs through, like a cat “i’m don’t like doing cat passes, i always feel like i’m going to catch my feet” “just get your hips up more!”
It is possible to regard a city as a collection of systems (political, educational, commercial and so forth), which individuals consecutively
‘plug into’ during their daily routine,45 each individual operating within a
collection of systems unique to their life (where they work, how they travel, their social group etc). This collection of systems can be conceived as a 43 Debord in Sadler 1999:82 44 Sadler 1999:92 45 Nawratek 2008a
freerunning originally a neologism to explain parkour to an anglophone audience, has since evolved into a seperate (but related) discipline.
hotspot figure 4.8 style & identity linking areas of the city through rhythms of oeuvres and use
somewhere that’s excellent for practicing parkour, with a selection of good obstacles and usually a newsagents nearby “hey, i’ll see you next week the car park hotspot yeah?”
35
obstacles
‘plug-in geography’; for example the plug-in geography of a pensioner would
aka challenges. any object in the enfironment around you that presents a challenge to traverse be an obstacle, such as urban furniture, walls, railings, buildings, trees, or a gap between two obstacles
be markedly different to the plug-in geography of a student.46 In producing a
“let’s move on, there’s no obstacles here for us to use”
recovering the world of differences47 and contradictions essential to the city.
“hang on, why not try and turn something into one then - how about if you run at that wall from that direction?
social geography, these subcultures not only operate within (plug into) existing urban systems, but through the social rhythms of their practices, collectively construct a plug-in system of their own; their system being a means of
The social rhythms of these subcultures suggest additional components of the unknown, future city hypothesised in the previous chapters; a plug-
in city characterised by competition between dialectical rhythms,48 in which run the essense of parkour - set off through the city, ignore the pavements and find your own routes over anything that gets in your way - can last from as little as a couple of hundred yards to several km
polyrhythmia49 of appropriation result in anarchic and fluctuating generations of place and the production of new social geographies.50
“you missed a really good run the other day, found loads of new hotspots”
session short for training session, as a group you’d spend a while in the same location investigating all the possible routes and obstacles to use “that was an intense session,
traceur
36 36
46 47 48 49 50
Nawratek 2008a Lefebvre 1991:50 Lefebvre 2004:96 Lefebvre 2004:98 de Certeau 1994:116
figure 4.8 plugging in socio-spatial practices collectively enaging with the city
a person who practices the discipline of parkour, supposedly slang derived from the French word tracé, mplying a person who traces lines accross the city
conclusion: subtractions and resubmissions “That which changes our way of seeing the street, is much more important than that which changes our way of seeing a painting.”
“you can always tell if someone’s a traceur...it’s usually the shoes which give it away
b-boying terminology b-boy/b-girl someone who practices the dance of b-boying. from break-boy, a boy who dances to the break of a funk track “prince ken swift is the epitome of a b-boy”
- Guy Debord, Report on the Construction of Situations, 19571
The implicit nature of the critiques these subcultures apply to contemporary urbanity was hopefully somewhat apparent throughout this work; however this paper will now take this opportunity to make these critiques explicit.
Primarily, it has been demonstrated how the participants of these socio-spatial subcultures are not simply subject to architecture but produce it through their social production of space, rhythms and place, offering an engagement with the urban landscape which challenges and subverts our daily experience of the city whilst simultaneously re-affirming the urban.2
This paper ultimately positions
architecture not as an art of shelter but mediation,3 a dialectical process of
producing space and place which Architects4 should recognise they operate within battle the competitive aspect of the dance; it’s a gesture of a fight set to music, without any physical contact. two opponents (either a single dancer or a crew) take turns at dancing against the other “yo there’s beat street, lets battle”
38 38
rather than have absolute control over.
At the very moment that urbanism has become pervasive,5 collective refuge
in the parasitic security of Architecture6 has left Architects unaware that
although their work hierarchically produces abstract space, there are many other 1 2 3 4
Sadler 1999:69 Fuggle 2008:205 Sadler 1999:148 The proper nouns ‘Architecture’ and ‘Architects’ are deliberately used here to denote the traditional and/or professional definitions of the words in direct contrast to this papers use of ‘architecture’ and ‘architects’ throughout, in order to emphasise the position of this paper with regards to how space is produced 5 Koolhaas 1995:969 6 Koolhaas 1995:968
architects operating dialectically within the urban topology to produce natural space, and it is the social rhythms of these body spaces that produce place – architecture, as a product of space, time and social being.
7
Additionally, it has been possible, through a close investigation of the means by which these socio-spatial subcultures dialectally produce architecture and
engage with the urban, to move this paper beyond a simple, negative critique of contemporary urbanity, to suggest possible future components of cities. Again,
break the portion of a piece of funk music where the drums are given prominence, characterised by the intense percussion. “the break...it’s that certain part of the record that everybody waits for – then they just let their inner self go and get wild”
the essential suggestion is that Architects need to redefine their relationship with the city not as its makers but as its supporters8 to avoid continuously participating in the production of the “anti-cities” outlined in the first chapter.
Furthermore, this paper hopes to extend the discourse within the immediate field of research; the nature and implications of these socio-spatial subcultures with regards to architectural and urban critical theory. The rhythms of the
subculture elude categorisation within a ‘lived image’; although these rhythms
may be traced through photographs and films, they require a memory in order to be
breakdancing the name given to b-boying by the media. often used pejoratively, as an insult to a dancer who predominately dances for attention (rather than expression) and focus on power moves without developing style “stop breakdancing, start b-boying!”
lived.9 It has been noted10 that presenting these subcultures as a ‘lived image’11
positions them as the absolute form of the spectacle; a social practice mediated through images. The ‘lived image’ as a means of representation and inspiration for annotations, oeuvres and actions, is in the author’s opinion accurate; but it is the rhythms which are the ultimate producers of personal, physical, and social realities - the real, lived, means of mediation. 7 8 9 10 11
Borden 2001:1 Koolhaas 1995:971 Lefebvre 2004:36 Spencer 2003 Borden 2001:125
crew a collective of b-boys and b-girls “the rock steady crew were the
best b-boys in new York”
39
call out to request a battle with another b-boy, b-girl or crew
Finally, it is also possible to further elaborate on the critiques these
socio-spatial subcultures afford towards contemporary approaches to producing architecture, by utilising Lefebvre’s theories on rhythms. The subcultures studied expose the hollowness of semiological attempts to construct space;
“all they’ve been doing is talking about how good they are, let’s call them out on it”
demonstrating that resolving to artificially ‘write’ meaning into space is
a tacit admission of failure to provide a space which enables meaning to be written (i.e. to construct ‘place’) through socially produced rhythms. Any
attempt to do so ultimately - and possibly quite deliberately - produces ‘nonplaces’, such as supermarkets, shopping centres, motorways and airports.12 cypher a group of b-boys taking it in turns to dance “check out the cypher in the other room, it’s hot!”
These non-places can be conceived as monorhythmic spaces, organised entirely towards rhythms of consumption, mediated by the spectacle. In enacting the rhythms of their subcultures, practitioners appropriate both monorhythmic
spaces (non-places), and arrhythmic spaces (non-spaces) - such as rooftops or the spatial detritus created by non-places, such as the underpasses or verges of motorways. In doing so, they re-introduce polyrhythmic (contradictory) space13 into the urban topology.
flavour the individual style of each dancer “i’d say out of 700 b-boys in new York, only 30 of them have any real flavour”
40 40
In appropriating the terrains of the urban as an oeuvre, socio-spatial
subcultures re-introduce the use values fundamental to urban reality.14 The
practitioners of these subcultures are not simply subject to the city and its architecture, but through their spatial and rhythmic engagements produce it; they are not readers, but editors. 12 Auge 2001 13 Lefebvre 2004:96 14 Lefebvre 1996:67
figure 5.1 from non-space to place, in three cans of krylon
bibliography
books: Bachalard, G. et al (1994) The Poetics of Space, Boston, Beacon Press Bey, H. (1985) Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism, London, Semiotext Borden, I. (2001) Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body, Oxford, Berg Bridge, G. & Watson, S. (2002) The Blackwell City Reader, Oxford, Blackwell de Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life, California, University of California Press Chalfant, H. & Cooper, M. (1984) Subway Art, London, Thames & Hudson Debord, G. (1992) The Society of the Spectacle, London, Rebel Press Foucault, M. (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge, New York, Pantheon Gelder, K. (2007) Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice, UK, Routledge Goonewardena, K. et al (2008) Space, Difference, Everyday Life: Reading Henri Lefebvre, UK, Routledge Hall, P. (1998) Cities in Civilisation, New York, Pantheon Hirst, P. (2005) Space and Power: Politics, War and Architecture, Oxford, Polity Holloway, S. L. & Valentine, G. (eds.) (2000) Children’s Geographies, UK, Routledge
42
Klein, N (2000) No Logo, London, Flamingo Koolhaas, R. & Mau, B. (1995) S,M,L,XL, Rotterdam, 010 Publishers Lefebvre, H. (1991) The Production of Space, Oxford, Blackwell Lefebvre, H. (2004) Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time & Everyday Life, London, Continuum Lefebvre, H. et al (1996) Writings on Cities, Oxford, Blackwell Macdonald, N. (2002) The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity in New York, London, Palgrave Macmillan Marcuse, P. & van Kempen, R. (2000) Globalizing Cities: A New Spatial Order?, Oxford, Blackwell Palahniuk, C. (1996) Fight Club, New York, W. W. Norton & Company Paul 107 (2003) All City: The Book About Taking Space, Toronto, ECW Press Pilger, J. (1998) Hidden Agendas, London, Vintage Sadler, S. (1999) The Situationist City, Massachusetts, MIT Press
43
articles and publications Atkinson, M. (2009) “Parkour, Anarcho-Environmentalism, and Poiesis” Journal of Sport and Social Issues (vol. 33, no. 2) Bavinton, N. (2007) “Parkour, Leisure, and the Reinterpretation of Constraints” Annals of Leisure Research (vol. 10, no’s. 3 & 4) p. 391 Belle, D. (2002) interviewed in “I was the Roof Jumper”, Creative Review (vol. 22 no. 5) p. 22 Belle, D. (2007) quoted in “What is Parkour” [Online] http://parkournorthamerica.com/plugins/content/content. php?content.9 [13th January 2009] Brown, N. (2008) “The Art of Displacement: Parkour as a Challenge to Social Perceptions of Body and Space” [Online] http://www.parkourgenerations.com/articles.php?id_cat=2&idart=21 [2nd March 2009] CABE (2008) “CABE Concern over giant public screens” [Online] http://cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=2652 [2nd October 2008] Spencer, D. C. (2003) “The Theory of Practice and the Practice of Theory” [Online] http://www.culturemachine. net/index.php/cm/article/view/203/184 [2nd March 2009] Daskalaki, M. et al (2008) “The ‘Parkour Organisation’: Inhabitation of Corporate Spaces” Culture and Organization (Vol. 14, No. 1) p.49 Day, A. (2003) “Parkour Research Paper” [Online] http://www.kiell.com/parkour_research_paper.pdf [28th February 2009] Edwardes, D. (2007) “Le Parkour – An Overview” [Online] http://parkourgenerations.com/articles.php?id_ cat=2&idart=5 [1st October 2008]
44
Fruggle, S. (2008) “Discourses of Subversion: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Capoeira and Parkour” Dance Research (v. 26 no. 2) p. 20 Lam, J. (2005) “Street Play” The Canadian Architect (v. 50 no. 2) p. 38 Laughlin, Z. (2004) “Sewing The City: Parkour And The Traceurs Of Narrative Threads” [Online] http://www. asifitwerereal.org/zoe/archive/Parkour/parkour.htm [3rd March 2009] Nolan, N. (2003) “The Ins and Outs of Skateboarding and Transgression in Public Space in Newcastle, Australia” Australian Geographer (v. 34 no. 3) p. 311 OPSI (2005) “Serious Organised Crime and Police Act” [Online] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2005/ ukpga_20050015_en_1 [12th January 2008] Savlille, S. J. (2008) “Playing With Fear: Parkour and the Mobility of Emotion” Social & Cultural Geography (v. 9 no. 8) p 891 Shahani, S. (2008) “Parkour: The Continuation of a Disparate European Tradition [Online] http://shawnshahani. files.wordpress.com/2008/07/parkour-the-evolution-of-the-disparate-european-tradition.pdf [28th February 2009] Sorrell, J. et al (2006) “The Cost of Bad Design” [Online] http://www.cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=13 42&field=filter&term=Public%20space&type=2 [2nd October 2008] Tran, Andy (2007) “Two Theories on Parkour Philosophy” [Online] http://parkournorthamerica.com/plugins/content/ content.php?content.17 [19th April 2009] Thrift, J. et al (2005) “What are we scared of? The value of risk in designing public space” [Online] http:// www.cabe.org.uk/default.aspx?contentitemid=477
45
lectures and semminars Cowley-Evans, 12/11/2008
A. (2008) “The Architecture of Graffiti” Plymouth, University of Plymouth [Lecture
Gould, J. (2009) “The Cappuccino City: On the Anniversary of the Town and Country Planning Act 1947” Plymouth, University of Plymouth [Lecture 12/11/2008] Murrani, S. (2008) “Unstable Territories of In-Between: Architectural Experience” Plymouth, University of Plymouth [Lecture 10/12/2008] Nawratek, K. (2008a) “Plug In Citizen in the A-Androgynous City” Plymouth, University of Plymouth [Lecture 03/12/2008] Nawratek, K. (2008b) “Do Not Care About Buildings So Much, Please” Plymouth, University of Plymouth [Lecture Series, Autumn 2008]
audiovisual and multimedia Dogtown & Z-Boys [DVD] (2001) Directed by Stacey Peralta, USA, Agi Orsi Productions, 91 minutes The Freshest Kids [DVD] (2002) Directed by Israel, USA, QD3 Entertainment, 94 minutes Jump London [DVD] (2003) Directed by Mike Christie, UK, Carbon Media, 49 minutes. Jump Britain [DVD] (2005) Directed by Mike Christie, UK, Carbon Media, 46 minutes. My Space, [Online] (2006) Directed by Julie Angel, UK, Parkour Generations, 4 minutes. http://de.youtube.com/watch?feature=channel_page&v=WkHPQPozDRs [12th January 2009] 46
Mirrors Edge [Game (PC/XBOX360/PS3)] (2008) Produced by Owen O’Brien, USA, EA Digital Illusions CE Planet B-Boy [DVD] (2007) Directed by Benson Lee, USA, Mondo Paridiso Films, 95 minutes Point B [Online] (2009) Directed by Michael Alosi, USA, Independent, 67 minutes. http://pointbmovie. com/ [16th April 2009] Style Wars [DVD] (1983) Directed by Henry Chalfant & Tony Silver, USA, Passion River, 69 Minutes
interviews ‘Meek’, Graffiti Writer [Interview] Plymouth, 18th January 2009 ‘Dom’, Traceur [Interview] Plymouth, 3rd April 2009 ‘Gaz’, Bboy [Interview] Plymouth, 18th April 2009
47
appendix i: definitions
figure 6.1 parkour originated in the suburbs of paris during the 1980’s, and has since spread worldwide the turn of the millenium. the name comes from the french ‘parcours du combatant’ - obstacle course.
the fundamental principle is “a man who runs, and whom nothing stops”. traceurs (practitioners of parkour) utilise movements such as running, jumping, climbing, vaulting and balancing to move through their environment as quickly as possible, passing any and all obstacles in their path, creating routes and finding locations within the city unique to their practice.
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figure 6.2 skateboarding came out of the califrnia surf culture of the 1950’s and 60’s, being known as ‘sidewalk surfing’ for some time. in the 70’s a more aggressive, tricks based culture emerged within skating, and in the 80’s skaters took their practice out of the specialised skate parks which had grown up and back on to the streets. skateboarders use movements with their board such as ollies and grinds to interact with the urban environment, appropriating the terrain to generate their movements
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figure 6.3 graffiti originated in the poverty stricken slums of new york in the 1970’s when teenagers began to write their names and pseudonyms on the streets they lived in. as the practice became more widespread, they soon began to move out of their immediate neighbourhood to write their name over the city. originally practiced using black marker pens, with the advent of spray paint more complex letter forms and colours could be achieved. graffiti writers took to the subways of new york, ‘bombing’ trains at night when they were parked up in train yards. the ultimate objective was to go ‘all city’ - to have your ‘pieces’ running on every subway line in the city. when the city began to crack down on graffiti in the subways, the artists just moved back to the streets again.
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figure 6.4 b-boying (more popularly known as breakdancing), originated in the same areas as graffiti, becoming part of the wider subculture of hip hop that was being generated at the time. it is an acrobatic dance form characterised by spontaneity, explosiveness, and originality. b-boys and b-girls would appropriate the streets for hours on end, laying down linoleum and corrugated cardboard to dance on, sometimes taking their dance into central manhattan to go busking, from which in the 1980’s it was taken worldwide.
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appendix ii: interview with meek during the course of the research for this paper, the author interviewed a number of practitioners from each discipline. presented here is a transcript of the interview with the graffiti writer ‘meek’, which paints a far more complete picture of the culture of graffiti than is possible to convey in the authors own words. of all the subcultures studied in the course of writing this paper, graffiti was both the most foreign and most compelling; the semi-permanent visual aspect of the subculture creates rhythms of material oeuvres, in direct contrast to the ‘frozen rhythms’ of the built environment.
an interview with ‘meek’
graffiti writer - plymouth/bristol/southampton 31st january 2009
rob:
a couple of bog standard questions first, how old are you and how long have you been writing [graffiti]?
meek: i’m 25 and i’ve been painting since i was about 14 rob: what was it about graffiti that got you interested?
meek: i think i’d been doing skate boarding for a long time – well, quite a few years already – and, well,
used to just skate in all these skate parks which were just covered in graffiti, and we started, well, we broke into a warehouse and build a skate park in it, which we skated in for a couple of years. it
always had some tags in there. my friend jeriah had been painting, well been tagging for a long time,
well since he was about 9 or something, and we just went and got a load of paint from the next warehouse which was like this car workshop and just decided we would start painting this warehouse ‘cos no one ever came in there and we could just do what we liked. we didn’t really know anything about ‘proper’
styles or things like that, it was just you know in our little town, we just did a weird...i did ‘time’ and he did ‘virus’, and some weird characters. i’d always been drawing things; it was just, sort of, being able to draw big on walls
rob: has it gotten bigger and bigger as you’ve gone on?
meek: yeah, now, yeah...in the last 10 years...in the last few years we’ve been doing huge productions. i
still paint with jeriah who i was painting with 10 years ago, we’ve been doing some huge stuff up in
bristol, painting some bars, and like big productions, but it’s just so much fun working up ladders or scaffolding and just being able to go, just as big as you can, like being given – like now, going from
that warehouse where we were just doing our own thing, to like someone like saying ‘here you go, this is my wall, i want you to do something’ and it’s a huge wall and you get to do something pretty much what you like, like as big as you like.
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rob: cool, cool. Have you always been doing commissioned pieces?
meek: no, not always. i mean the commissioned stuff’s just really to make money for the paint; i paint anywhere all the time. Like a lot of painting goes; [i] paint whatever i can really, whether it’s commissioned or a legal wall, or an illegal wall or, just anything really. just get up, paint, but the commission things a good thing now really, it’s starting to...cos you always over-order [spray paint], cos you’ve always
got plenty of paint to paint [with]. i haven’t brought paint in about six years. just, always over order and then get loads, i’ve just got loads locked up in a garage, so i’ve always got some. it’s good.
rob: what is it that makes you want to write [graffiti] then?
meek: it’s sort of an expression. i don’t get - a lot of people who paint want their name everywhere but i
haven’t tagged for years i don’t just go round writing my name on the walls. i used to do that but I’ve seen a lot of people get in trouble for it. i just do it, i just like a lot of characters and want to
brighten things up a bit. people just walk around these boring streets all the time and just seeing the
same old grey walls all day every day, and to put something that’s a bit funny, with a bit of a narrative there which people question. i like to sort of ask questions – make people question what they’re doing. A lot of my characters, they’ve got a life, like a story behind them. a lot of the stuff i’ve done down here as well is sort of several pictures in a row, with just like a story going between it so that
rob:
people, sort of, you can look at it and sort of think ‘oh yeah that’s what’s going on’ you know?
Yeah, i like to just, i like people to use their imagination from my painting. that’s what i want.
wicked. how would you choose somewhere to put one of these stories?
meek: i mean, er, there’s good, sort of access points, like a lot of, you see different spots you know? Like rooftops are always the best for, er, people can see it from miles away you know? and you’re always
looking at a little spot to get up and paint so that people can see it from miles around, but they don’t always notice it unless they look up. and like one day, ‘cos you walk, people walk the same routes every day you know and then just suddenly catch a glimpse and think ‘oh, fucking hell, whats that up there?
never seen that before, whats that all about’ like thats nice i think, to sort of, for somebody to think
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‘oh somebody’s been up there and done that’ and then you’re just, like, you know, good. i like doing on
places that people walk every day and suddenly there’s a change. like a wall, or little cut ways through rob:
alleys, like, yeah.
so is it subverting every day spaces really?
meek: yeah, it’s sort of like adapting peoples surroundings which i think is what i was saying about the
skateboarding, where you look at things differently because of how you work. tou see it as a potential canvas, whereas other people see it as just a wall.
rob: how many times would you walk past somewhere before you decided you wanted to put something there?
meek: sometimes you just look and it’s a quirky little corner or something or it’s like a bump in the wall or a gap which you think could be filled, or an old boarded up doorway or something like, you know, that’s perfect. it’s the sort of place these characters hang out you know? cos it’s the kind of places they
could live quite happily. in the odd doorway, you know? think that’s the – i mean, you get long walls in britain, and that’s great, but when you find a little, quirky
alleyway just to sort of sneak someone
down there. it’s just sort of coming out to say something to you. that’s the best way to pick ‘em i rob:
think.
so these spaces, do you go out looking for them or do you just stumble upon them?
meek: i think it’s just stumble upon them really, because you’re just constantly looking everywhere you go,
everywhere a potential, you know, there’s always a potential spot. Sometimes you just know, you know you need to paint it, it needs to get done, you know, you gotta get on that wall at some point. Whether that means getting up at 4 in the morning to do it, or whether you have to, some places you just have to ask these days, people are becoming like more, you know, accepting of it. And some people, especially if
their walls tagged continuously, bristol’s really good for it now – I can just go along if their walls are just getting bombed all the time by people, you can just like knock on their door and say “Do you rob:
want us to do something good?” you know?
i’ve heard several stories of graffiti writers tagging walls and then going along and asking it they’d
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let the owners do something over the top!
meek: yeah, it’s a good plan, haha. as long as they don’t go and paint the same thing! rob:
so is there any particular way in which you make your characters, and/or write?
rob:
in terms of, how much time would you take to do them, and do you –
meek: err,
meek: a lot of my style has sort of built up over the years, like, now that – i’ve got quite a ‘messy’ style
with a lot of my stuff, but it’s not like i don’t take enough time, a lot of it’s due to the fact i think a lot of graffiti is TOO neat. and people just, it’s, it’s been done like, people have had these crisp edges – i mean i can paint crisp edges, but i like things to look a big raggedy and worn and limp, i
mean there’s patterns that i use continuously throughout my paintings, like there’s certain jumpers and
cardigans that all my characters wear, and they always have little top hats or caps with them...i mean i
don’t always use the can straight; like bang ‘em against the wall try and get all these different effects which you don’t always see, like i just try and change the way i paint every time. like i’ve always got several rules which i stick to but always trying new things with these characters, i mean they can, cos
i know the format of how to put one of these characters up, like it’s quite quick, i can put the outline
up, cos i know what im doing, cos i draw them all the time, so know i can just get one up, get the basics rob:
down and then explore them.
i’m quite interested in this, is there like a long running ‘meta story’ which all these little pieces fall into?
meek: er, i’m not sure – they’re all from the same weird world but im not sure...like there’s al lot of flying
boats and sea monsters i think thats to do with, er, land pirates really with all...we’re all, our whole crew now, we’ve all got weird, like, they’re painting up in bristol all the time, but they all live together and I go up and visit occasionally. but when we all look at each other’s work or drawings,
there’s so many similarities of what we’re doing, cos we’ paint together and have been painting together for so long, we’ve got all these patterns we all use, there definitely is a story, there’s these tigers
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which just continuously turn up in everything....these tigers and a little boy with a drum in a boat, i dunno, like flying house boats which just sort of...boats just seem to be stuck on the end, like, bring rob:
the story in...
is it a bit like the marvel [comic] universe, and each character is within that univserse, and the character stays the same, but each graphic novel has a different story arc?
meek: yeah, i think there is this weird universe which they’re all from, but some of them will continuously
appear and some of them have slightly changed, but the basis for all of these characters is always the same, they’re always just doing a new thing everywhere they go, like sometimes they’ll have a party,
rob:
sometimes they’re fleeing...
does the spot affect the story then?
meek: yeah i think it does, definitely it does. We just did this huge piece up in Bristol, which was
commissioned. all across the road, it just say’s “everybody” in huge letters, but either end we’ve got stacks of characters, with all their party hats on, we’ve got bandits with their bandana over their
face, and their guns are party poppers and things...so all these characters that we paint are there, like I’ve got some like birds flying out the top, so it’s quite a happy piece...but other times we’ve done them and they’ve been real rob:
dark, like the same sort of characters, like the bandits are there and
this tiger, and there seems to be a penguin turning up quite a lot lately...
you talk as if you almost have no control or input...does it just come to you as you’re doing it, or do you start off with a sketch or an intention?
meek: we’ve all got – i usually come up with, like, i draw continuously – but i think, i’ll have a sketch
but it will change so much with how you’re feeling with the wall. like, when you’re there you making a
connection with what you’re painting, like the wall and the surroundings, and you know that something’s gonna change, and you might have some colours that you wanted to use, but you might use them in a rob:
completely different way because of the situation...
can you put your finger on what it is about the surroundings that makes you change your idea?
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meek: a lot of the time it’s how people are moving, like if it’s a busy place – like when i was painting
at the uni, people were continuously walking past and stopping and looking, that makes me work a lot
faster, and i change the whole movement of the characters, cos it’s a lot faster...whereas if you’ve got somewhere more chilled, like there’s not really anyone around and you’re taking your time, i think a lot of the time its people around you, like how they’re interacting around you, can really affect how the
end piece turns out. like at battle stations [a local hip-hop club night, featuring graffiti ‘battles’] i paint completely differently to how i would normally – like i’m completely freaked out by all the people staring, and that really affects what goes on, like how the end piece turns out. like in situations like that where there’s a lot of people i tend to go more messy, because they’re expecting something clean!
i just do the opposite...like the more i know there’s someone there, the more i try and freak them out, rob:
like stranger...that’s definitely how I work.
are there any bits of the city that you feel more attracted to, or routes, or do you change your routes?
meek: i change my route every day when I leave my house, i love like, in plymouth, the little alleyways...i
just go to those streets every day just to look, to find things for my other artwork...and those street
are where i find a lot of inspiration for my graff cos i find loads of paper with new patterns on them, and they really do affect me. I mean barcelona, man that place is just amazing inspiration. i was there for rob:
two years and painting all the time.
what did you paint? i’ve been there twice this year and took a load of shots...where did you do it?
meek: i think a lot of it’s been buffed, i mean down on the beach there’s probably something that’s never gonna go, it’s like an old tower, and i’ve got some rabbits and stairs climbing the tower...it was a hell of a hard place to paint, i was right at the top of this old rickety ladder. It would be a hard piece to go over..and that’s still there. just used to paint the old building sites around there as well, hit
building sites all the time. there used to be, i mean it’s about 3, 4 years since i lived there, it used
to be really different, like you could paint – the local government didn’t mind you painting, and all the hoardings around building sites used to be legal, and now, i went back there last new year, i thought i
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was going to get shot by two policemen – they just came running at me holding guns, and i was in this
park painting this wall of fame which had been there for like 10 years...it’s right down near the beach, the port...it’s an old basketball court with this huge wall all round it. i thought, right, first day of the year, get up, and was just painting in this park and these two policemen holding their guns – so i thought they were going for someone else so i just carried on, but they just grabbed me and threw me against the wall...and i was so shocked, but i just played ignorant...and they just said barcelona’s rob:
completely illegal for graffiti now...
what i really liked about barcelona is that a lot of the graff gets done on the hoardings, the shutters – there seems to be a bit of mutual respect between writers and the city, saying “we won’t touch the permanent parts but when you pull the shutters down they’re ours”
meek: yeah, like it’s ours by night and by day it’s yours. there’s a lot of respect in barcelona, like the old buildings don’t get hit and things, like england’s bad for it, like people paint all sorts like paint churches and things, and it’s really bad...but over there there’s so much to paint there that
people don’t tend to go off and hit all the old buildings as much. it’s really strange, they [the local government] used to be so keen on people painting, but after i got caught they said you’re not allowed to do it here anymore. so i went back to a place, a shop i used to do commissions for, and just like did a piece down the side – cos a lot of the places you can just ask, it’s not like a legal wall but
you can just ask and get a number for them, so if the police turn up you can just say this guy’s given
me permission. bristol’s like that now. bristol’s, really, that’s where i want to be, like you can just paint all the time – you can go there most weekends and find a new spot, people really want you to paint to brighten up their street
rob: the ‘banksy’ effect?
meek: haha yeah, the wall we’ve just painted – it’s right next to one of his things, the mild mild west one, and this thing we’ve painted is like 12ft high and 150ft long, it took us three days and there were
people coming along, ignoring what we were painting and taking photos of the banksy piece. it was so
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funny, what we did burns it – well in my opinon, it just kills it so much more. it’s been there for
nearly ten years now, and we just wanted to roll over it, start again, but i don’t think bristol would be too happy with that...there’s a pub in brighton as well, a gay pub, and it’s got two policemen kissing
outside of it, they’ve put this giant piece of perspex over it so no-one can paint over it...i don’t like it, graffiti’s never been a permanent thing, it’s always been about leaving your mark and then you can
then...it’s great if it stays there for a year but you know, i’m not going to get pissed off if someone goes alongh and paints straight over it...that’s how it goes. that’s what people are aware of once you rob:
start painting.
that brings me along to one of the things i wanted to talk about actually, er a) how long would you normally spend painting and b) this idea of transience, this ever changing nature of it
meek: that’s what’s really nice about it, it’s constantly changing. if it was there forever you’d get as bored as would of the wall, the plain wall, it just becomes part of it, you stop noticing it; but if it’s
changing all the time then you’ve always got something new to look at, i think that’s much better you
know? if there was something new every day, it would just be great to hit the same spot and change the
character every day, or do something that’s continuously evolving...that’s what i go for really, things which evolve, use your surroundings to shape what you paint...show people what else there is. you also
get other graffiti writers working with what you did, like me and my brother did this piece in Barcelona, he did a monster thing and i did some of my usual characters, and then someone else had come along and done some sort of knight on a horse which was hooking onto our characters, really taking advantage of
what else is there...there’s a bit where the whole building’s been knocked down and there’s just bits of
wood sticking out where the stairs used to be, and they’ve just integrated their stuff with what’s there, rob:
they didn’t go over us but they saw what we’d done and thought ‘we can do something with them’ does that happen quite a lot?
meek: it doesn’t happen very often..like it’s different, cos i’m not writing letters much, there’s a big
difference between people who write letters and people who do characters, like those who write their
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name, it’s all they want to do is get their name everywhere, but character guys want to tell a story utilising their surroundings...most people can tell who it is anyway because of the characters and rob:
textures and stuff anyway
so it’s like you’ve still got this identity attached to the pieces?
meek: yeah you can definitely tell who’s done something. there’s this guy in bristol who’s been painting
since the 70’s in the same style and it’s his you know? he continuously paints in the same way, and he
continuously gets commissions, because people associate him with the area...you can definitely tell where someone’s from, like in new york where you can tell if someone’s from brooklyn or the bronx or queens rob:
just from their style
so there’s like regional identities of graffiti then, even within cities it’s like people from different areas have different styles
meek: yeah, well, there is in some cities – you can definitely tell which town you come from...london’s got a lot of diversity, a lot of them are real gnarly new York style, whereas brighton is real bubbly, and
nottingham’s pretty nuts and wales – you can definitely tell when a writer’s from wales cos they tend to do a lot of marvel comics in new york style. bristol’s just got loads of styles, a lot of it is from a
guy called sick boy, who’s painted this whole magical world all over bristol, and it’s affected a lot of people’s style...you always take a little bit from where you’re from wherever you go really...
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