An exploration of the territory of Valga and its monuments. An interrogation of the terrain vague through the dĂŠrive and psychogeographic mapping of both personal and collective experience. Creation of a metaphoric four-dimensional cartography to find Zonzo.
Workshop type theoretical ¿? community (sur)reality (de)construction interesting...
The workshop is an invitation to live and explore the territory, a call to enter and transform the environment through the experience of the dérive [1]. Giving in to the dérive, we will leave behind our traditional motivations of how and why we move through the environment, to instead, utilize our bodies as perceptual tools and let ourselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters we find there.
Participants easiasans = 10-12 locals = open for all
The dérive will allow us to study how different places make us feel and behave, collectively identifying the intrinsic psychogeography [2] of Valga and its surrounding territory. The drift commits to total participation, everyone will be a flâneur [3], wandering around and actively contributing to the production of photographs, collages, automatic drawings, writings and mental maps; as well as engaging with the local community who we wish to be an active part of the workshop. Drifting consists of walking, drinking, sketching, losing time, getting lost, talking, and doing all of this all over again.
Budget > € 266 <
The identification of the urban monuments [4] will be carried out unconsciously during the dérive. The collective experience will be shared. These experiences will be collected through the compilation of reactions made during the drift, in the form of photographs, collages, automatic drawings, writings and mental maps [5] made by locals and participants. These will lead us to identifying collective imagery [6], which will form out the urban monuments that will be taken to form our perceptual cartography. It will not be a fixed result, but a process of bringing the experiences to the fourth dimension. The cartography will be open to everyone, and we will invite both locals and the EASA community to engage and reorganize it, inline with their own experiences, both inside and outside of our cartography. The cartography will be a new space for collectivity. The construction of the perceptual cartography [7] through the identification of urban monuments will allow us to interrogate the terrain vague [8]. Those “empty” spaces in the map that do not perform any specific function; that lack any effect or reaction. Looking at the spaces between monuments, investigating how the terrain vague (the residual and the forgotten space in the urban environment), appears useless and meaningless, is essential to recognize monuments. Questioning what attracts architects and artists to the terrain vague in contemporary society. It’s the void, yet also promise, the space of possibility, of expectation. The city needs the monumental just as much as it needs terrain vague; apathy. Zonzo [9] is wandering aimlessly deliberately losing productive time. Zonzo is actively leaving behind the imposed expectations of everyday life, of consuming and producing. Zonzo is the most apathetic act in contemporary spectacular society. to Zonzo, with affection.
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Glossary of terms page 5 Driftin’ page 6 Manifesto page 8
Timetable:
when
where
what
how
27 july day 1
undefined space
drift
group dynamics, getting to know each other. introduction into the main ideas of the workshop. going on first drift as a collective.
28 july day 2
undefined space
drift
mental mapping with the locals: drifting for a minimum of 30 minutes (can be as long as the drift needs to be) with how many locals want to join us, open to all ages. provide them with drawing tools and making mental maps together :)
29 july day 3
undefined space
drift
documentation of the monuments: photographs, automatic drawings and writings, physically and emotionally marking the monuments. drifting however the participants feel like.
30 july day 4
undefined space
identification of monuments
georeferencing, collaging, juxtaposing choosing a place for the cartography.
31 july day 5
in and out
construction of cartography
physical arrangement of shared experiences.
1 august day 6
within the map
engagement with community & open cartography
inviting others to rearrange the cartography: open cartography for all, we invite everyone to walk around, share their experiences, add their monuments, discuss, agree and disagree.
4 august day 7
within the void
interrogation of the terrain-vague
chatting, drawing, drinking, re-visiting the urban environment, marking new found monuments and the voids between.
5 august day 8
within the map
readjustment of the cartography
physical re-arrangement and re-configuring of shared experiences in the cartography.
6 august day 9
within the void
reinvestigation of the terrain vague / void
chatting, drawing, drinking, re-visiting, rebuilding the cartography, materializing the voidâ&#x20AC;Ś drifting into the unknown.
7 august day 10
zonzo
finding zonzo
discovering the true essence of Valga, writing directions to get to zonzo
8 august day 11
undefined space
presentations
documentations and instructions on how to get to zonzo, manifesto of terrain vague.
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Materials, tools and budget:
what
how many
how much
why / for what
reference
big polypropylene woven bag with 4 loops
1
€6,50/pcs
to carry things around
pakendikeskus.ee
shovel
3
approx. €10 each
digging, lifting and moving bulk materials, hiding a treasure, using as support structure for temporary shelter
any hardware store
checkered polypropylene shopping bag
14
approx. €20 (total)
for the participants to carry the tools to fulfil their dreams (alcohol) and also…...fashion
can be found in most cheap markets
polaroid camera
2
free
we supply them
polaroid original instant film
2 packs of 8
approx. €20 each
each participant will use the polaroid for a day and will have 1 opportunity to capture a monument in one single unique subjective-to the-climate-photographic document
¡¡¡ possible sponsor !!!
pack of thicc coloured chalk
1 pack per participant + 2 extras just in case = 14 packs
0,50 cents per pack
to draw ephemeral things on things, finding the way home
ladudapublicidad.es
pack of thicc (sharpie magnum permanent black markers)
1 per participant + 2 more just in case = 14
€3,33 each
to draw permanent things on things, automatic drawing, sniffing
amazon
tracing sketch paper roll 40g/m² 50m long x 61cm wide
1
€20/roll
to draw things on things, juxtaposed, overlap, layer, reflect, trace
amazon
174 m of red linen twine
1
€3,40/roll
weaving dreams together, tying down experiences
pakendikeskus.ee
75 m of red and white warning ribbon
1
€3,80/roll
33 m of red and white warning tape
1
€2,40/roll
wooden clothes pegs
10 100 0
€15/pack
to hang things, not only clothes
any supermarket
heavy-duty steel staple gun (with staples)
1
approx €15
staple staple staple (not for actual staple gun fighting)
any hardware store
Portable Electric Fence Pigtail Post (1 m tall)
20
€1,50/post
construction of cartography
alibaba.com
multi-purpose scissors
12
approx. €2/each
cutting n’ collaging, reason for 12, 2 might get stolen
any supermarket
Clear Liquid Glue - Great for Making Slime
1 gallon
€17.99
construction of cartography
amazonbasics
all purpose glue sticks
12
€6
glueing things together, like collages and our friendship
amazonbasics
recycled cardboard
as much as possible
free (hopefully)
construction of cartography
ask for boxes in local supermarket
printer and black and white ink
1 (hopefully supplied)
if not, €100 (printer) + €50 ink
500 sheets of recycled DIN A4 paper
1 pack
€8
AmazonBasics All Purpose Washable School
Total
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¡¡¡ WARNING WARNING !!! A MONUMENT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED
printing, drawing, subverting cartographies, collaging, writing love letters
pakendikeskus.ee pakendikeskus.ee
:) amazon
€266,10* (we can make the price cheaper, we probably don’t need that much glue… but it won’t be as fun)
Glossary of terms [1] Dérive: (french: [de.ʁiv], “drift”) is “a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances”, an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, in which participants drop their everyday relations and “let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there”. First put forward in the “Theory of the Dérive” (1956) by Guy Debord a member at the time of the Situationist International, the dérive’s aim is to study the psychogeographic nature of the city, as well as the recognition of a ludic-constructive behaviour that opposes it to all the previous notions of a walk or a trip. [2] Psychogeography: theory developed by the Situationists through the act of the dérive, it is an exploration of urban environments that emphasizes the study of the precise laws, consciously organized or not, and the specific effects of the city on the emotions and behaviour of individuals. [3] Flâneur: (french: [flɑnœʁ], “stroller”) an ambivalent figure that appears in 19th-century France of the bourgeoisie representing the ability to wander detached from society, not doing anything in particular and with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of people and society. [4] Collective imagery: a set of values, institutions, laws, traditions, buildings, places and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society through which people imagine their social whole. Particularly, the collective images of the city and its components are created by the experience of real places in the real world. [5] Mental map: a person’s point-of-view perception of their area of interaction, first introduced by Kevin Lynch, and used to planning and analysing cities in behavioural geography. The creation of a mental map relies on memory as opposed to being copied from a pre-existing map or image. [6] Monument: a building, structure, or site that is of historical importance or interest and that is erected to commemorate a notable person or event. The notion of monument often appears in Robert Smithson’s works as well as in his writings, albeit somewhat ambiguously—strikingly, his monuments are not always monumental. Moreover, the monuments Smithson remarks upon or creates are removed from the commemorative function associated with the term, redefining a new type of monumentality, which is based not only on the dislocation of space but also on the disruption of time. [7] Perceptual cartography: similar to a mental map, it is an abstract, metaphoric and metamorphic four-dimensional representation of the collective imagery and the psychogeography of the territory. [8] Terrain vague: abandoned areas, on obsolete and unproductive spaces and buildings, often undefined and without specific limits. This French term recently coined by Ignasi Solà-Morales, is used to define and understand the role that “empty” spaces or voids play in the city. The term itself has multiple layers of meaning: “vague” suggest “empty, unoccupied” yet also “free, available, unengaged. Sola-Morales describes how these spaces, often defined in the negative (“empty,” “unoccupied,”) can also be viewed as full—full of possibility, promise, and freedom. [9] Zonzo: originally a linguistic place found in the Italian expression andare a zonzo, meaning to lose time wandering aimlessly.
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Description of a day drifting in Madrid
While working on the proposal for the workshop we decided to dérive for a day in Madrid. Starting at Moncloa bus terminal with the only decision made the night before in a bar to first drift north. Here is our following result:
The parking park
Caña & automatic writting
The first of the 7 bridges
Vermouth & mental maps
We wandered for an unknown amount of time until we discovered “The parking park”. We called it “The parking park” because it was a parking lot with a park on top that was only used by dogs to poop. The parking park had no reason for being there other than filling a residual space in the grid. We realized the terrain vague was the monument.
A line of poo made by a dog called Richard Long
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We then went to cafe nearby the new monument for lunch, and documented our experiences:
We decided to get a metro to another part of the city. We drifted aimlessly in a part of Madrid we were both unfamiliar with. Until we came across a bridge that looked pretty cool. It crossed a road and a river at the point where the main road went under the ground. From the bridge we could see other bridges, overlapping in the horizon at different levels.
At this moment we decided the purpose of the drift was to try to cross all of them experiencing the variety in parallel crossing points. We thought we crossed 7 bridges by 7pm, and we were tired and decided that the mission was complete.
We went to familiar bar loved by both of us to eat potatoes and again, document our experiences. People stared at us. We realized while documenting that we actually crossed 8 bridges.
Laura drawing on napkins
Jack eating potatoes
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Manifesto
“We
are not simply observers of this spectacle, but are ourselves a part of it, on the stage with the other participants. Most often, our perception of the city is not sustained, but rather partial, fragmentary, mixed with other concerns. Nearly every sense is in operation, and the image is the composite of them all.” - K.L.
In order to experience and understand the urban space we have to consciously drift, let go and get lost. Most times we are supported and guided by the presence of others and by various sight-centered way-finding devices (e.g.: google maps). However, perception is grounded in the body of the viewer, “it is not the eyes which see” but “the body as a receptive totality” (Merleau-Ponty). We will encourage disorientation, wandering and the loss of productive time.
“Your
footsteps follow not what is outside the eyes, but what is within, buried, erased.” - I. C. Invisible Cities
The starting point of the drifts will be predefined with each one lasting a day. They will be undertaken both collectively and individually depending on how the participants see fit. The maximum extent of drift space does not exceed the whole town of Valga, its twin town, and the outskirts; its minimum extension can be reduced to a small environment unit: a neighbourhood or even the interior of the supermarket. Understanding walking as a hedonist and aesthetic practice of environmental transformation will allow us to document and map the collective experiences of the region.
[B]
The space of the dérive will be more or less vague or precise depending on spontaneity and chance encounters informing the direction off the drift. Aspects of the dérive have multiple interferences and it is impossible from the onset of a drift to fully define the outcome. We can opt for personal disorientation or dedicate the walking to the direct exploration of the territory, searching for a psychogeographic urbanism. The drift will be used as a tool for the collective identification of the urban monuments. Most often our perception of the city is not sustained, but rather partial, fragmentary, mixed with other concerns. Nearly every sense is in operation, and the image is the composite of them all. As part of a society that increasingly sees everything solely as a series of images, even the real becomes unreal and is, therefore, open to re-imagination. During the dérive, monuments - icons of the collective imaginary, will be identified, georeferenced, re-imagined, redefined, re-created and subverted.
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[A]
[C]
The monuments constitute the nodes of the collective imaginary of the passers-by and inhabitants of Valga. They generate fluxes, currents, fixed points and whirlpools that make it difficult to access or exit certain areas. They are the common mental pictures carried by a large number of people, areas of agreement which might be expected to appear in the interaction of a single physical reality, a common culture, and a basic physiological nature. The workshop is committed to total participation: relying on the memory of the experiences rather than an accurate geo-orientation of images. Locals will also be participants, engaging with the workshop and being invited to join exercises used to define urban monuments and construct the collective imagination cartography. Documenting how we perceive space and creating a four dimensional cartography where everyone can walk tthrough the field of our collective perception.
[D]
The four dimensional perceptual cartography is in itself a metamorphic being. Constantly being altered and redefined by the continued impressions of those who experience Valga. The Against preserved art, it is cartography canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be considered a final product or the organization of the outcome, but rather a physical representation of directly lived moment. the process. Interrogating the in between spaces Against particularized created by the cartography, understanding art, it will be a global the essence of the place, the relation between practice with a bearing, the solid and the void, the monumental and each moment, on all the the banal, identifying the fluctuating terrain usable elements.â&#x20AC;? vague. The cartography becomes a new space of G.D. - Situationist Manifesto collectivity and shared experience.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Against
the spectacle, the realized situationist culture introduces total participation.
The aim of the workshop is to lead us to the present moment, to Zonzo. Originally a linguistic place found in the Italian expression andare a zonzo, meaning to lose time wandering aimlessly. Zonzo is a timeless reality, an eternal practice. Zonzo is non-existent, a constellation of voids amalgamation monuments. Zonzo is the destination when we are not going anywhere.
[E]
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References Guy Debord - Society of the Spectacle (book) Francesco Careri - Walkscapes (book) Robert Smithson - A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey (essay) Italo Calvino - Invisible Cities (novel) Richard Long (everything he’s ever done) Situationist International Manifestos and other essays Kevin Lynch - Boston Mental Maps (maps) Bob Cobbing - Square Poem (poem) Allan Kaprow - How to Make a Happening (lecture) Simon Sadler - The Situationist City (book) Juhani Pallasmaa - The Eyes of the Skin (book) Kevin Lynch - Image of the City (book) Gordon Cullen - The Concise Townscape (book) Marcel Duchamp - Étant donnés (sculptural installation) Sol Lewitt - Instructions for artwork (art) Jacque Lacan - Optical Theory of Narcissism (the mirror stage)
Manifesto images [A] Lonely metropolitan (1932) - Herbert Bayer [B] Walking a Line in Peru (1972) - Richard Long [C] The Monuments of Passaic (1967) - Robert Smithson [D] Map of Boston (The Image of the City, 1960) - Kevin Lynch [E] Rock engraved Map of Bedolina (c. 10000 a.C.)
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