shuffle
SHUFFLE
A psychogeographic experiment
with a deck of cards and your own two feet.
Saturday, 21 September, 2:00pm [rain or shine]
Williamsburg [Brooklyn]
Meet at the corner of Bedford Ave. and N. 7th Street
in front of the Salvation Army thrift store.
[Closest train is the L to Bedford Ave.]
***Please bring a small notebook/pen [paper or digital].
Digital camera, video camera, GPS receiver, voice/audio recorder, laptop,
area map, chalk, stickers, breadcrumbs, etc. are optional...
Psychogeography can be broadly defined as the study of how physical
surroundings affect mood and behavior. Explorers who wander the world as
psychogeographers have various motivations ã political, artistic,
scientific, technological, philosophical, historical. There are those who
engage in demographic research, social protest or the documentation of
overlooked spaces. Others study patterns of movement and navigation by
setting specific parameters for constrained walks. Audio/visual artists and
writers who use the landscape as raw material gather objects, data and
recordings, and often alter their cities by means of stickers, graffiti,
performance or intervention. Some psychogeographers use GPS receivers to
locate hidden caches or make drawings in the landscape. High-speed networks
and wireless devices are also being used as psychogeographic tools. Areas of
related activity include urban planning, cartography, gaming, virtual
environments, the creation of mazes and labyrinths and urban code (tagging,
warchalking, hobo signs). Finally, there are always those who stroll, drift
and wander simply for the pleasure of turning the next corner...
Taking a cue from those working in generative/algorithmic psychogeography,
Glowlab is interested in devising a method with limited rules that can
generate diverse actions. SHUFFLE is an attempt to incorporate the various
sub-genres of psychogeography in a list of instructions that will be printed
as a deck of cards. Examples of the instructions include "take the next
right," "note any landmarks on this block," "chalk the sidewalk with a
message," "go into the nearest shop and have a look," "describe any
surveillance devices in this area," "do nothing for one minute," "photograph
or sketch graffiti/stickers/flyers on this block" and "keep walking straight
ahead."
At the start of the session, participants (working alone or in groups) will
be given an identical deck of cards stacked in numerical order. Each group
must shuffle the deck of another group, thus randomizing the order of their
walk. Heading in different directions, each group will turn over the first
card of the shuffled deck and follow the instructions. Cards are to be
'played' in succession for about an hour, after which there will be a
gathering at a local bar for drinks and discussion. Depending on the results
of this first experiment, future sessions could be set to last an entire
day, or until the deck has been run through.
