On Psychogeography

Psychogeography is the act of participating within a space (that being a city, or other type of landscape), a radical method of moving through the world more intentionally, in a way that benefits not only the individual but society as a whole.
Its is a method that combines geography and psychology, developed during the mid 20th century by Letterist International and its successor Situationist International, two Europe-based organizations that drew on anarchist and Marxist writings, among others. Guy Debord, a founding member of both bodies, defined psychogeography as an environment’s impact, whether mindful or not, on an individual’s behaviors or emotions [1].

Thinking about psychogeography as a method of research itself, sparks thoughts around what are the possibilities of human encounters within certain spaces. Is thinking about space in a more meaningful way, one that engages the histories of a site with the emotions and thoughts of the walker, even the walker’s reservations about a space or the ability to engage with it and not just ‘go through it’. Psychogeography involves writing a map inside the mind in a way, maps that chart all the invisible things that thread a landscape rather than the visible aspects of it (not landmarks for example).

In relation to my research, I am approaching psychogeography as a valuable method of understanding how people engage with Hilbre Island. At the moment I am working on the design of a ‘psychogeography map’ of the island, which contemplates not only its history but the stories attached to the site, by those who wrote them and by those who I have talked to (the locals that regularly visit it).

References

[1] JSTOR Daily (2024) [online] Available at: https://daily.jstor.org/walkers-in-the-city-and-everywhere/ [Accessed: 18th April 2024].