Sara's second thoughts on actions

Walking around my neighborhood in LA--thinking about walking in a still unknown city of Zagreb....I wonder...

What can one know about a place through observing and interacting with rhythms of walking?

I am more and more curious about this system of flow and movement in a city. An ecology of bodies/movements.  

The three days/themes:

scales/bodies/heights

bridges/borders/fences

silences/waits/(in)visibility

can serve as prompts for finding sites to research in.

For example:

I would choose three different sites based on the words provided.  So, for the first day, I may choose to work in an area where the relationship between sidewalk width and bldg height was extreme.  The second day I might work in an area of contested borders or a more residential area where the boundary between private and public are strong. And on the third day, move to a place where there are silences (or lack there of) and consider ways to engage in that slower pace, stillness.

In each site the focus of the research would be on the body/space/time relation--with a focus on ways the bodies move through space, connecting to that, improvising with that movement and discovering something different about each space through this research.

I like that Bianca has propose a follow up activity--coming back and offering something back to the group from the research. I think we could all have actions that we work on and then a structure for how to share that back to the group.

We will have a lot of information gathered and then, I can imagine, go through a process of editing and selecting and composing.

More thoughts on the way....

Sound//Actions

day one: scales/bodies/heights 

The Sound of Narrow Spaces

this exercise would engage with a marked environment (a square, some streets) preferably different scales of congestion. People would be ask to bring their bodies into different relations to the material bodies (architectural configuration) to activate different scales of acoustics. Narrow spaces are just one of various constellations one can think of, to situate our aural apparatus into a position to activate the acoustic variances and qualities of a space. Such an exercise ideally motivates the body to take unusual postures and gestures and opens up multiple registers of audio-experiences. 

day two: bridges/borders/fences

Tracking of Sonorities

Participants are asked to crystallize a repetitive sonic event in their environment and trace it as far as they can. First step would be to trace it to its source if possible. In the second step they will dwell with the sound in their bodies and distance themselves from the sound until they loose track of it. This practice plays with the different sonic enclosures and openings that happen through architectural configurations and demarcates how an ephemeral medium such as sound can create territories and/or becomes deterritorialized through the dividing forces of bridges/borders/fences. 

day three: silences/waits/invisibilities

Placing Displaced Sounds

The last day will play with the active alternation of a sonic ambience by the participants. Depending on the number of people in the workshop I will hand out little digital voice-recorders and ask the participants to record a particular sonic event that happens in a recognizable environment and place the recorder replaying the sound in a hidden spot that demonstrates a displacement of the sound. The invisibility of the replayed sound but the perceivable displacement of its content might create waits and plays on the assumptions of what is visible and invisible. 

brain storm II

I am thinking at this point that the first part has to be carefully weaved into the city- maybe trying the physical things outdoors, after seeking for the spots that relate to the topic. I like to think about this displacement 'cause it builds on sensorial memory- of the city and of the body.
I am thinking about Boal's excercise on sensorial memory, which works with differentiation between physical description (through bodly movement) of a place and affective memories (how the body felt)
Apart from those listed here, I'd like to bring objects- maps and historic images printed in acetate threads of different texture

first day:
scale/bodies/hights
looking for sites that represent/present the extremes in scales of enveloping the body- again I am interested in the comparision between physical and sensorial perception and forming of a place.
each individual will choose 3 of the followings to look for:
the highest place
where you feel the smallest
the coldest
etc ( a list of a bunch of extremes is suggested)
once the spot is found observe ways how to brake, contrast that feeling- through sound/ body positioning.

at the end we walk together each one showing the group its chosen spots
this also creates a movement between individual/group.

what is the variety of bodies in this city?

bridges/borders/fences
this is about division, fragmentation, demarcating
I'd like to play with memory, past, projection-- bridges in terms of time
this is the day of landing site for me.

stand on a bridge
try to connect two points that are split apart
connecting through gestures
connecting through presence
separating through presence
reproducing the limits of zagreb in the scale of where we can reach (drawing with steps- or with a thread)

silences/waits/invisibilities
looking for blank spaces
non functional sites (small spots)
consider them as breathing of the city
the inflexion point
try to hide
the silence can be chaotic- or can be plain
work with transparent ballons
blowing, collecting air
- what fills up?

actions per theme

Sara's first draft of possible actions per theme:

day one: scales/bodies/heights
measuring body to height of buildings
activities that consider the relationship of width of sidewalk to height of buildings
walking in lines, other configurations, that aim to measure out the space/foot measurements/number of steps/etc

day two: bridges/borders/fences
counting bridges or fences
body as bridge, as fence

day three: silences/waits/(in)visibilities
body still in the city where it is very busy
notice vignette of people waiting for the bus and re-create in another locale

So...what actions???

I also keep coming back to the title: (UN)Folding Zagreb
What is it to unfold a place?
unfolding a map
unfolding into movement, flow, rhythms

I am not convinced that my reading contribution should be deCerteau. Although he discusses the movements of the body in the city, there is still an emphasis in the visual--in the looking at the bodies moving--over the felt body moving. Instead, I am considering bringing in Vivian Sobchack's writing on the body locating itself.
She refers to embodiment and phenomenology (which I sense is not exactly the direction we are wanting to go).
You can read from her book Carnal Thoughts: Embodiment and Moving Image Culture.

I will think on it further..

now...actions...

I am not sure I can predict what movements I would propose for the participants--other than to be there and decide then.
Otherwise, I find myself falling back to what I have tried out here in LA-but, perhaps, Zagreb asks for different actions.

And if not the flaneur--then, perhaps it is not about being wandering, but locating oneself, "knowing" where one wants to go
intention
stillness
placement
markings

Moving in Zagreb

In thinking about what kind of actions I might propose in Zagreb, I first go back to the original proposal and highlight words that might be prompts for moving.

rhythm
movement of the body
flow
engagement with others in the space
gestural contamination

I also am curious about the proposed three day theme:

1. scales/bodies/heights
2. bridges/borders/fences
3. silences/waits/(in)visibility

and, in the end we have proposed to accumulate a series of actions and/or mapping of affects