Theory of the Dérive
Posted on the blog you will find Guy Debord’s essay, “Theory of the Dérive”. The dérive is a strategy developed by Debord and the Situationists in the 1960’s as a tool for exploring the environment we inhabit. This activity should be thought of as more than just a stroll. It is research into the habits and behaviors, which are built into the spaces we occupy.
Dérive is French for drift, and that is exactly what I am asking you to do. Moving through space in this way, Debord theorized, opens one up to the relationships between people and things which can be obscured by our habitual attitudes to our environment. I’d like for you to read “Theory of the Derive” posted to the blog, and in groups of 3 or 4, embark on your own derive. Explore the “pyschogeopgraphy” of Providence and post to the blog your response to the experience. This can take any form (i.e. photos, prose, drawings). Be prepared to discuss your experience in class next Tuesday.
“In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones.”
Guy Debord
“Theory of the Dérive”.
“Theory of the Dérive”.
These are also posted to the blog:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive
No comments:
Post a Comment