Psycho-geographical mapping

Psycho-geographical Mapping

“Unfold a street map… place a glass, rim down, anywhere on the map, and draw round its edge. Pick up the map, go out in the city, and walk the circle, keeping as close as you can to the curve. Record the experience as you go, in whatever medium you favour.” Robert MacFarlane, Psychogeography: A Beginner’s Guide.

“The sudden change of ambience in a street within the space of a few meters; the evident division of a city into zones of distinct psychic atmospheres; the path of least resistance which is automatically followed in aimless strolls (and which has no relation to the physical contour of the ground); the appealing or repelling character of certain places–all this seems to be neglected.” Debord, Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography.

                                                                                                                                     

Reflection 

Through out my life, I have always been drawn to certain places, for what often seemed like no particular reason, I recall walking past walls or a large tree, and just stopping and feeling like I was where I was meant to be, as if my soul was breathing it in and telling me it liked it here, from then on I would look forward to finding these places on my daily journeys to work, or school. Equally there would be places I would take an instant disliking to and actively avoid. This started me realising it was the energy within a place that I was reacting to, thus causing an emotional charge, As someone who is readily aware of shifts of energy, my body would drink in the positive or negative like a sponge. Causing me to feel tired and depressed if I was around negative energy for too long. Whether it be people or buildings.


I find that writing down my experiences of a place/person through poetry can be a therapeutic way of dealing with the build up of outside energy. Performing acts of ritual or experimenting with creative forms within an environment can be helpful means of understanding the history of the space, and allows me to decipher what the feelings conjured there relate to. The map below depicts my experience of day to day life in Norwich City.

                                                                                                                                                          

Sources

https://mappingweirdstuff.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/mapping-weird-stuff-psychogeography/