Parisian psychogeography

As “projections of lifestyles” (pg 92), the Paris maps are quite interesting in that they convey the complex manifestations of individual value systems, despite the participants having seen accurate cartographic depictions. I wonder if these projections, which it sees as complex structures, might also be seen as “proto-urban conditions” (Raoul Bunschoten) in that they are products of a given milieu “invested with local, emotive force” (Raoul Bunschoten) embedded in geography, socioeconomic status, etc. Within this structure, is the consequential displacement of one element by another part of a parametric social construct of the city that is ever changing? How different would the maps be if Paris did not build for a hundred years?

It doesn’t seem all can be explained empirically, but that some may be the domain of ineffability. I guess in this sense it’s similar to what we’re trying to do when we map f&*k and invoke blood measurements.

Here’s my slim attempt as art critique…

The Eliasson exhibit(s) was overall thought-provoking, while some pieces were less compelling than others, re: “Yellow versus purple”.

Broad stroke, the exhibit for me had a vitality and clarity that I felt, in a way, removed the overcoat left by city. “Moss wall” had a wonderful smell that added to the multi-sensory experience of the whole, while Notion motion undermined any idea of inertness. “Room for one color” I thought called into question our desire for a fixed datum through its single wavelength, giving us no basis for comparison, and rendering everything “black and white”. “Beauty” asked the participant to claim his own rainbow, which was interesting after viewing Rauschenberg’s blank white canvases and remembering his often-quoted desire to work "in the gap between art and life".

Although from it’s sister exhibit, I thought the piece de resistance (am I stating the obvious?) was the BMW H2R, which layered global warming, geyser-derived energy, modern geometry and materials, among others, in a stimulating atmospheric and sensorial encapsulation that seemed to connect widely.