2nd Reading Response.

1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.

The reading that I have chosen is, Will Self: On ‘Psychogeography’ and the Places That Choose You. I chose this article because the first time I read the title, it sounded rather interesting. I had never heard of Psychogeography, and I thought that the idea of places choosing us, rather than us choosing the places, seemed like a good read. Just by reading the word Psychogeography I was able to get an idea of what it is. The idea of a place choosing you is also interesting, because we usually think that we choose a place, not that we are drawn to it for reasons unknown. I certainly have felt before that a place has chosen me. I also enjoyed the interview because it mentions the flaneur. A flaneur is a person that walks around the city to get a better idea of the city. They don't always to get from one point to another, they walk to experience the city the live in, and sometimes different cities.

2. What are the main points of the essay?

The reading is an interview with a writer who is a recovered drug addict. Before the actual interview a little bit of information is given on the writer, such as his drug addiction, and what made him want to stop his addiction. It also talks about the writer as long distance walker, and why he finds walking as a better alternative to driving or riding in a bus, train, or airplane. After the writer/walker is introduced, it talks about a book by the writer that deals with Psychogeography. Once the interview actually starts, the first obvious question is asked, "... What exactly is Psychogeography?" From what I understand, Psychogeography is a way of disconnecting yourself from your surrounding area, while still experiencing it and being a part of it. Unfortunately the article didn't really talk too much about places choosing us, it is only briefly mentioned. Another main point of the article was asking Will Self how he got interested in Psychogeography and long distance walking.

3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?

The idea of Psychogeography is definitely something that I am now interested in. I always enjoy walking to pass the time and to clear my head. I always thought it was just something that I would do, I never thought it would be an actual practice. Also the idea of a place choosing me is the reason I returned to certain areas from Drift 1 on my second drift. One place in particular is a blue building. In my first drift I had no intention of recording near the blue building. As I continued to a designated spot on my drift map, in the back of my head I was thinking that maybe I should record by the blue building. I decided to record by the building after all. Once I finished my drift and started going over my various pictures and sound recordings, one of the pictures I took of the blue building really stuck out to me. In particular the architecture, and how the exterior would reflect its surroundings. The concept of reflection ended up being one of the main focuses of my second drift. After reading through the reading (and the comments left by other readers), I would like to look into Psychogeography, and the work of Will Self, so that I could get a better understanding of how places choose us.