Week 5
In this week I explored different resources that gave an overview of the health benefits that nature can have and how connecting with our outdoor space improved wellbeing. I confirmed what I already knew, to be honest, exploring and wandering around in nature has huge benefits on our health both mental and physical. It can improve mood, reduce feelings of stress and help us to become more relaxed, improve cardiovascular health, etc. The city health in Peterborough isn't bad but it's not that good either, as indicated by the city health report.
So, how might city health be improved in the project, as well as developing a sense of place? Walking in nature, as opposed to being indoors, exposes us to cleaner air, connectivity with others and sense of being. A study found that children know more Pokemon characters than they do types of birds. This exemplifies the move from natural world to a technological based one. Walking not only connects us with a place but it improves physical health as well.
Further Resources
The green map system was explained in the resource 'Design, When Everybody Designs : An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation book by Ezio Manzin' . The green map system in a non-profit organisation that provides an interactive mapping platform where you can chart 'The locations of a community's natural, cultural and sustainable resources'. The maps are locally made and help to change people's perception of an area by connecting them to a more sustainable and green part of the community, creating a sense of place.
Bilateral movement research
I came across the term of bilateral stimulation in my research on the benefits of movement and health in the city. I didn't really know what it was, so spent some time looking at the definitions and resources to see if I could understand its benefits.
The article Bilateral stimulation: What it is and how to use it to reduce anxiety was a useful resource in determining why bilateral stimulation is important. It is movement that engages both hemispheres of the brain to open up our thoughts and feelings simultaneously in order to release the happy hormones in our brains, relieving stress and anxiety. The article also demonstrated basic motions which would cause the stimulation of both sides of the brain. Many of the resources that I read gave the same insights and understanding. Although when diving deeper into the scientific terms and theoretical understanding, I established the point at which I could no longer really understand. For the purpose of developing my project I feel it is useful to be conscious of how the motion of walking and looking around can engage people's brains and develop new thoughts, whilst simultaneously boosting happiness. In turn, I gained the feeling that
many people just move around Peterborough from point a to point b with purpose or they exit the city to commute, so people aren't stimulating their brains in a way which would release the happy feeling and therefore, as seen in my previous research questionnaire in phase 1, people have more negative feelings about the city in general.
Resources that were viewed and read:
A resource from the early stages of the MA course was the Divided Brain by Iain McGilchrist, who spoke about how the left hemisphere of the brain is sharply focused and the right side is a lot more open, alert and makes connections. Yet to have imagination and reason we need both sides of the brain. As he said 'Too close you can't see anything, too far you can't read it'. This demonstrates how bilateral movement can engage our sense of exploration and give perspective on seeing by the engagement of both hemispheres of the brain.
Week 6
Proposal Feedback
Following my project proposal feedback session with Dan, I had to ask myself how I might go about answering the question ‘what methods or research and data gathering would I use to determine a sense of place?’ I began looking into psychogeography and the practice of Derive. Some of the resources I looked at can be seen below
I first started by looking at psychogeography which the tate website described as 'the effect of a geographical location on the emotions and behaviour of individuals'
Psychogeography is the intersection of psychology and geography. It explores an environment’s influence on the emotions and behaviours of people. A fundamental principle of psychogeography is walking. The situationist practice of derive (drift) is an explorative method of research that involves walking and observing the environment. It is the notion of drifting through your environment in an attempt to ‘get lost’ within a city, finding new perspectives and new narratives that would otherwise have not been seen. It is a playful method of observing and exploring an environment.
Guy Debord’s essays The theory of derive and an Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography were really helpful in understanding a foundation of the practice and the essence of what psychogeography is. They gave insight into how I might go about using the practice and the duration, timing and purpose of the method of derive.
I also found that, when it comes to psychogeography, there are many possible outcomes I could consider; with notable psychogeographers such as Iain Sinclair, Alan Moore, Rachel Lichtenstein producing books, music, films and podcasts from psychogeographical research.
Chris Rose’s book Psychogeography And Psychotherapy: Connecting Pathways was a really interesting read; exploring how our identity is woven into a specific place and our connection to an environment. The connection between urban exploration and the sense of being are tied together to understand the essence of human nature and the individual
Andrew Kötting’s documentary 'By Our Selves' recreates the four day journey of John Clare from an Essex asylum to his home county of Northamptonshire. It has a few different voices or narratives within it, in the form of John Clare himself narrating with a poetic element to his words and interviews that were much more conversational theorising or analysing Clare's life. It follows the walk Clare took but amongst a modern landscape demonstrating the historical and modern simultaneously. It includes animalistic figures and folk performers which demonstrate England's mythical, ritualistic energies, born of traditions and myths. A straw bear also features. The creatures seem almost sinister in the film, possibly linked to the mental state of Clare at the time. This is representative of the areas origins and legends. The film can be watched here
Week 7 & 8
Continuing into week 7 and 8 I explored psychogeography further and considered how I might use it in exploring a sense of place. I was not really making a great deal of progress in these weeks as I was still unsure on the direction of my project, there were so many opportunities and each additional piece of research or reading opened up more avenues! As I was unable to attend the scheduled feedback session with industry experts due to work commitments, I scheduled a meeting the Ben in week 9 to help to see where my project was leading and determine the areas of research I was lacking.
Further resources :
On a bit of a tangent, I read John Berger's Ways of Seeing. As I find how perspective can shift due to circumstance, environment, experience etc. a really interesting topic. Simply how we all see things in different contexts. He speaks about how the reproduction of paintings means they are being seen differently now, to how they would have been when they were painted. Paintings originally had a sense of place, the need to travel or take a pilgrimage to see them and to view them in the context of their location is no longer necessary. Yet, does that take away its original context and feeling? For example, seeing a religious artefact or image in our own homes, on a screen, in a book or magazine, it is viewed differently to if it were in a church. As it is being taken out of its religious environment, does it possibly lose its depth of faith? Seeing it on screen or in a home doesn't necessarily give the same emotional connection. The ability to replicate paintings may distort the original meaning and seeing it in multiple ways now makes me question what was it's original meaning? Do we over analyse? I found it really interesting that when focusing on a detail and then another you're creating a story within an image of your own creation. Yet take details and order them in another way and it creates a different story. This shows how meaning can be manipulated and distorted. In order to see a true story you need the whole picture. I think this is something that maybe more so with photography. You can always question what's the surrounding? What's the context of the photo? Unless you know, you never truly understand, you see what you want to. Is that the point? It is also interesting that sound can instantly change a meaning or story. Sound is generally used so subtly that you're not even aware of how it affects your interpretation and understanding. I also realise that our own experiences and knowledge influences the way we see things and our immediate connection to what we see can influence the next thing we see and give us a perspective that we may not even realise. I really loved these programmes they gave me a whole new understanding about the how and why we see things in certain ways and to be sceptical of what it is that I see and how I interpret things.
Week 9
I am aware that I should technically be moving on to the next phase of this project, though after my tutorial with Ben I have found that I have overlooked the part of the project on place. Having focused my research on Peterborough up until this point I never considered what a place is. What does that even mean? I therefore jumped into the research of a place. The following are some of the resources that I looked into:
What is a place?
The Culture Courier Article Everyday Anthropology: Space vs. Place gave an overview of a place, describing the difference between a physical space and the essence of a place. This was the first steps for me in understanding the concept of a sense of place. Previously I had simply ascribed to the idea that a place is the location's characteristics, yet reading through this article I found that a place is more about our own experiences with a location.
The nature of cities was particularly helpful in giving context to a sense of place and place attachment. It demonstrated the individual experience of a place in its definition and emphasised the importance of social interaction and community when exploring what a sense of place is. It could be suggested that the people are what make a place after all.
I found Yi Fu Tuan's humanist theory to be the most interesting and convincing, in that place is a lived experience; it is built up from our individual human consciousness and connection to a place. His books: Space and place a humanistic perspective and Space and Place: The perspective of experience both offered insight into people’s emotional bonds and attachments to particular places and environments. That place attachment can range from home to global in scale is indicated, but it is the conscious emotional experience of the individual’s perpsective that creates the sense of place.
Massey's Global sense of place gave an overview on a progressive definition of place in a globalised sense that place is a more open ended term, as globalisation mixes culture, heritage and experience. Her perspective on a sense of place is that it is being blurred by our increasingly globalised world, making a sense of place more homogenised. This is a more progressive perspective and demonstrates the impact of the changes in our modern world and the merging of cultures and experiences.
Dean and Miller's book 'Place' was really enjoyable to read. It looks at our unique place in the world and suggests that everyone wants to find their place, that it’s human nature to want to feel a sense of belonging. This book explores how a place can hold significance to people and what makes the place so individually special. It explores the philosophical insight into place and the relevance that they can hold to people.
Further Resources:
Making Sense of Place Multidisciplinary Perspectives - Ian Convery, Gerard Corsane and Peter Davis
Place attachment: conceptual and empirical questions - Hinaldo and Hernandez’s
Sense of Place: Humanistic Geography, Literature, and Spatial Identity - Indranil Acharya, Ujjwal Kumar Panda
Place attachment theory, Inalhan et al.
The Notion of Place, Place Meaning and Identity in Urban Regeneration. -Ujang et al.
Reflection
This phase of the project really wasn't good for me. I lost momentum and felt uncertain of the direction and research that I should be undertaking. However my tutorials did help me to get back on track and feel a little better about what I was doing and the direction that the project should take. I think that I need to get even more research together in order to fully form the aims and objectives of the project and understand different research methodologies in carrying out research. though I am feeling better about what I am doing now.
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