Urban Derive

"The dérive, or drift, was defined by the situationists as the ‘technique of locomotion without a goal’, in which ‘one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there’. The dérive acted as something of a model for the ‘playful creation’ of all human relationships. It is a tactic of psychogeography." 

(Latrobe University, 2013) 

I chose the colour purple and followed it around the CBD, which I did for approximately an hour. The idea behind this was to "capture the textual run-off of the streets: the graffiti, the branded litter, the snatches of conversation… Be alert to the happenstance of metaphors, watch for visual rhymes, coincidences, analogies, family resemblances, the changing moods of the street…” (MacFarlane, R). Before I began following purple, starting outside Parliament Station, I wandered aimlessly while thinking of which colour to follow. During this period, I paid close attention to the colours around me: the numerous greys that make up our roads, our pathways and our buildings. It would be considered stark, however the area where I was walking through (I wasn't paying attention to the street names), the buildings were older and filled with character. There was a church (St Patricks) which is a hidden treasure amongst the blocks of officers that make up a large proportion of the city.

St Patricks- grey

It would be all too easy to follow grey, so despite it following me wherever I went, I decided to choose a colour that wasn't so commonplace. Although grey is dominant, there are splashes of various colours amidst it all, green being one of them. Green is found as nature strips to rubbish bins, from traffic light to railings, and for a while I followed such a railing, looking at the people around me. The majority of people were walking by themselves, many of which were on phones or electronic device (i.e. iPod). This I found as quite ironic, as people in the 21st century are so connected through the virtual space, that they aren't engaged with the world around them. They are on a mission, walking in haste set out on reaching their destination, without stopping to look at the people they pass, or noticing that I was awkwardly trying to take a photo of my surroundings...

I didn't want people to see me taking photos of them, but then I realised that no one was paying any attention anyway (however, I still felt uncomfortable taking photos without their consent)

Having realised that I began to wander around and abandoning looking for a colour to follow, I stopped at the next crossing and made my decision... I saw a lady wearing a purple coat in the distance, across the street. Purple became my colour that I would follow for the next hour.

However, by the time of crossing the road, the lady in the purple coat had already crossed at another road. I had lost that purple object, however, I was committed to purple now, so I waited for approximately ten minutes at the crossroads for some more purple to come along. Meanwhile, I observed the tiniest of details: leaning against the brick building and being aware of the weight that I put on it, hearing the ticking of the traffic lights, listening to the engines of cars that drowned out the voices of the people passing me. I smelt the unpleasant fumes of petrol and was glad of the wind (although bitterly cold) that brought some fresh air into the busy street... until a purple scarf came past, taking me away from the intersection.

Despite feeling uncomfortable following these people, I payed attention to the things I was passing, trying to engage in all the senses, of sight, smell, hearing... I followed the trail of the purple scarf until a purple checkered shirt was coming my way, which involved changing direction back to the way I had come, as well as increasing my pace from a leisurely speed to a more urgent and determined tempo. The previous figure with the scarf was listening to music on their iPod, while this purple shirt was on the phone, possibly about work- which contrasts greatly, as music can be used as a way of escape and a distraction to nullify the time passing, whereas engaging in conversation causes one to be focussed on a specific task at hand; a form of keeping grounded in a particular context.

The streets in which we were walking seemed to be an 'in-between-like' area, with people passing and not stopping, all in motion to go somewhere else. And this shirt was going into a car, so I once more stopped in the street and just observed everything while my mind became the wandering entity, just daydreaming about nothing in particular. This was eventually broken by a bright purple coat, and repeating my previous motions, I trailed the colour until we reached a row of houses down a street, on of which, the coat entered.

I noticed that I had once again found myself by green railings

With the re-emergence of green railings, I abandoned purple and just walked independently, at my own pace and with nowhere in mind. I walked around the streets, weaving in and out, making my own pattern, as if I was a needle and thread through a cloth. I was aware of the cold, which made glad for my thick coat, which then prompted me further into realising that all the purple things that I had encountered within that time, were all items of clothing. I stopped my weaving motion when I saw a purple dress and once again adopted the task...

 
which I did until I came across a park and decided that my love for parks overpowered my need to follow a particular colour. But as chance would have it, when I entered the park, I was happy to find a path lined with deep purple, light purple and pink and white flowers, which I followed, welcoming in the freshness and the completely different atmosphere of the dominating grey streets that I had encountered previously.

 No one was around and it was peaceful, which allows one to forget that they are surrounded by the busy and constantly moving city. I decided to stay here for the remainder of the afternoon, without a goal, without intent... just drifting.


References:

Latrobe University, 2013, 'Derive', Exploring Media Arts, blog post, 21st July, http://exploringmediaarts.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/psychogeography/

MacFarlane, Robert, Psychogeography: A Beginner’s Guide retrieved from http://exploringmediaarts.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/psychogeography/