(39) Psychogeography

Our Cray III supercomputer recently created a spreadsheet summarizing the content of letters, emails and telephone calls received at the POWcityblog bunker since going online. We will address all of this inbound commentary in due course. Of immediate concern is that the term psychogeography is misunderstood. At least a dozen correspondents have expectations that the term literally means “geography which is psycho,” that is to say, “crazy.” This failure of comprehension is extremely unfortunate. The principles of psychogeography have probably never been more badly needed by a humanity trying to come to grips with its immediate environment.

So, what is psychogeography? It’s a school of philosophy rooted in France in the 1950s. Essentially it has to do with capturing the direct effects of place upon the feelings, experience, and emotions of human beings. As with any school of philosophy the sky is the limit and there is a healthy variety of interpretation and methodology. Despite its French roots there is nothing about psychogeography that is for wusses.

It can be taken up in a formal or informal fashion according to taste. If you ever spent time wondering why a certain part of the city makes you feel this way and another part makes you feel that way and the totality makes you think or feel something else completely then you are a psychogeographer. This mixture of psychology and geography can be expressed in writing and visual art and it hopes to inform the very shape of our society.

Some ability to get around and a few tools for recording impressions are the only things needed by a psychogeographer. It isn’t always pretty, take a look at the last post for example.

In this society enthusiasm is generally considered just another poor social skill but we’d still like to ask you: when it comes to psychogeography, what are you waiting for?

editor's note: search terms can include Guy Debord, Situationist International, Will Self and psychogeography