Examining Pyschogeography
Posted on April 11, 2011 | posted by:
Street view in Hunts Point
Intrigued with the notion of how the physical environment affects sense of self, and is therefore expressed back onto the environment, we formed a group with a focus on “Psychogeography and Everyday Life.”
Our initial questions examined what made Hunts Point different from other large, low economic, urban neighborhoods. We were searching for something distinct that we could locate in the environment, in the daily habits of its residents, or in how the residents thought about their environment and daily habits that would illuminate the relationships between the neighborhood, food insecurity, and obesity.
A strong interest in understanding the physical environment from a Hunts Point resident’s point of view meant defining a filter through which to process this information. Initially we felt that the senses — sight, smell, and sound — would give us clarity in processing this information. Senses, while not objective, are informed by the way we think about them. They are constructed thought scientific as well as physiological structures.
The aggregation of the senses was our connection between the physical environment and the perceived environment. We began examining what these sensory outputs could tell us about the psychological effects of the environment through research in scientific journals and articles about how the environment and the senses inform and control self worth. Our research led to fascinating links between depression and noise pollution; broken windows theory and behavioral phenomena, and how smells, both appetizing and putrid, can affect eating habits.
Our professors advised that we needed theoretical underpinnings for our research into the senses and daily life. Henri Lefebvre’s The Production of Space yielded tremendous structured insight into social space. Using his ontological triad on the three notions of social space, we were able to begin to pars apart the intertwining worlds of perceived, conceived, and lived space, helping identify areas that may be structurally weak, or easily changeable. This gave us a motivational push to understand the notions of space, the body, and agency in Hunts Point.
Time constraints and various issues forced us to adjust our tactics to rely less on informants, and begin to consider the distinct design opportunity to create cultural probes. These probes or information gathering frameworks could be implemented or exist in a theoretical level. The evolution of the probes may serve more as interventions into existing psychological infrastructure, rather than functioning as information gathering tools.
– Grace, Howard, Rachel, Elie & Amanda