‘Excuse Me… Are You Lost?’ What Can Performative Walking Practices Contribute to Knowledge About Public Space?
ISBN: 978-1-80071-227-0, eISBN: 978-1-80071-226-3
Publication date: 9 August 2022
Abstract
Over the past 15 years, there has been a growing interest in the potential of movement-based artistic practices for exploring aspects of the urban experience. As a visual artist and a geographer, I have become increasingly interested in how the movement-based practice of performative walking might be used as an ‘inventive method’ for examining and understanding aspects of how we live in cities.
In this chapter, I draw upon the insights gained from four recent projects to explore performative walking's potential as a mode of enquiry. These projects were conducted in and around Edinburgh, Scotland, between 2016 and 2019. Each project was designed to create an affective ‘friction’ and enhance participants' sensitivity to space and place through practices such as hyper-slow walking, repetitive walks, walking in the dark and creating spaces for imaginary games. The projects demonstrated to me that performative walking can help uncover emotional and hidden geographies by combining, and bringing to bear upon these spaces, the visual, sensory, historical, mythical, remembered, personal, projected and, importantly, the imagined.
I conclude that performative walking is a valuable form of research which should be given parity with other forms of urban inquiry, such as public consultations, in dialogues about our future cities. Furthermore, I propose that attempts should be made by those interested in developing ‘inventive’ methods in urban inquiry, including those interested in developing creative geographies, to evaluate more systematically the contribution that performative walking might make to ways in which we understand, and develop, our cities.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
My sincere thanks to everyone who took part in these projects.
The projects referred to in this chapter were made possible through funded commissions from Artwalk Porty 2017 (Playing Up), Artwalk Porty 2018 (Festoon), Artwalk Projects 2019 (Cul-de-sac), a Research into the Lived Environment Grant from the Institute of Geography, University of Edinburgh 2016 (Scale Walks) and a Professional Development Award from the Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh. The author is grateful for the support of these organisations.
Citation
Macleod, D. (2022), "‘Excuse Me… Are You Lost?’ What Can Performative Walking Practices Contribute to Knowledge About Public Space?", Boonstra, B., Cutler-Broyles, T. and Rozzoni, S. (Ed.) Moving Spaces and Places (Emerald Interdisciplinary Connexions), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 129-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80071-226-320221009
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022 Deirdre Macleod. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited