Week 9 of the academic year began with a new project set for our class. This was the first time I had been a set a project in University wherein I was asked to work in a group, but soon enough the 'De Montfort Spartans' had formed. Please visit our site on
Yolasite - PsychogeographyDMU
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| The Team - De Montfort Spartans. Left to Right: Chris, Alex, Ben and Chike |
The project centred around a topic called 'Psychogeography' which really excited me because firstly, we were given creative freedom with a practical project, and secondly, the topic sounded extremely interesting. So, what is Psychogeography? Psychogeography is a situationist theory, and is the investigation into the effect of the built environment on the human mind. The question psychogeography poses is "How does the geographical features and environmental aspects of the cityscape influence our emotions and sensations?"
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| How To Make Your Own Fortune Teller! |
After brainstorming a few idea's which failed to spark a real excitement or energy in the four of us, we took a break from ideas and just discussed the project concept. Suddenly, an idea had arisen out of nowhere. We called it 'A Day In The Life of a Childs Game'. Our idea revolved around a child's game commonly known as a 'Fortune Teller'. It's popularity comes from it's random predictions and tellings, it's simplicity and ease to make and finally, it's spontaneity. We decided that we were gonna film ourselves; the direction in which we were going, as well as the emotions presented wherever the game took us. We began at a hotspot, at the clock tower in the city centre, and left the rest up to the game! Stereotypically, on each flap or edge of the handheld fortune teller either a number, word or colour is present. Within our game, we simply wrote the words 'Left', 'Right', 'Straight On', 'Backwards', and followed the instructions it gave us. As we walked we all agreed that our lack of target lead to us noticing a lot more about the city that we hadn't before. We found ourselves commenting more on the features of the environment such as architecture and decorations. It really showed how little we pay attention to things as we travel around the same places, day-to-day. The process of learning or noticing things never noticed before, within familiar surroundings felt rather spectacular to us. We also realised watching our recordings back how the level of discussion between the group outside of the centre dropped drastically the further we got. This exemplified the effect the darker and more unfamiliar surroundings had on all four of us.
In regards to our guide - the Paper Fortune Teller - the idea worked well, creating an exceptionally random journey to new places and old, familiar and unfamiliar. It might not be the best way to travel, as it gets increasingly frustrating having to turn back on yourselves several times! However, turning the idea into reality was very exciting and certainly interesting. We recorded our direction by writing down each direction from road to road as we travelled, for instance, 'Left onto Westwood Road, Right onto Highcross Lane'. Moreover, we documented these directions through Google Maps.
After brainstorming a few idea's which failed to spark a real excitement or energy in the four of us, we took a break from ideas and just discussed the project concept. Suddenly, an idea had arisen out of nowhere. We called it 'A Day In The Life of a Childs Game'. Our idea revolved around a child's game commonly known as a 'Fortune Teller'. It's popularity comes from it's random predictions and tellings, it's simplicity and ease to make and finally, it's spontaneity. We decided that we were gonna film ourselves; the direction in which we were going, as well as the emotions presented wherever the game took us. We began at a hotspot, at the clock tower in the city centre, and left the rest up to the game! Stereotypically, on each flap or edge of the handheld fortune teller either a number, word or colour is present. Within our game, we simply wrote the words 'Left', 'Right', 'Straight On', 'Backwards', and followed the instructions it gave us. As we walked we all agreed that our lack of target lead to us noticing a lot more about the city that we hadn't before. We found ourselves commenting more on the features of the environment such as architecture and decorations. It really showed how little we pay attention to things as we travel around the same places, day-to-day. The process of learning or noticing things never noticed before, within familiar surroundings felt rather spectacular to us. We also realised watching our recordings back how the level of discussion between the group outside of the centre dropped drastically the further we got. This exemplified the effect the darker and more unfamiliar surroundings had on all four of us. 
In regards to our guide - the Paper Fortune Teller - the idea worked well, creating an exceptionally random journey to new places and old, familiar and unfamiliar. It might not be the best way to travel, as it gets increasingly frustrating having to turn back on yourselves several times! However, turning the idea into reality was very exciting and certainly interesting. We recorded our direction by writing down each direction from road to road as we travelled, for instance, 'Left onto Westwood Road, Right onto Highcross Lane'. Moreover, we documented these directions through Google Maps. 
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