We like this little video homage someone put together showing downtown at night. It's looking at our city through a slightly different lens than usual, focusing more on those side areas just off the side of the road. Whether the person who made it realized it or not they've done a nice job at capturing the practice of psychogeography.
Wikipedia defines psychogeography as in this way:
"A more straightforward definition is "a slightly stuffy term that's been applied to a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities. Psychogeography includes just about anything that takes pedestrians off their predictable paths and jolts them into a new awareness of the urban landscape."[2]"
Spokane is still a relatively excellent place to practice psychogeography as it has a good number of nooks, cranny's and alleys. Even some of the first ring suburbs like West Central and the neighborhoods north of Boone have interesting aspects to them. That small block sizes mean lots of corners and alternative routes.
- A New Way of Walking [Utne Reader]
- Psychogeography [Wikipedia Entry]
Now I know why I don't need streetlights where I live - the glow from all those ligths downtown (still blaring at full capacity at 2:00 AM) keeps us lit up just nicely.
I know there are crime/safety issues, I know that - so don't start flaming me for this. That being said, I wish someone could come up with a practical way to reduce the intensity/quantity of lighting during these early morning hours when (as you can clearly see in the video) practically no one is using them. The signals all turn yellow - can't we do something similar with the lights? (let the bashing begin)
Posted by: Silent Bahb | March 06, 2008 at 07:19 AM
I like the video, I like it alot. I think that there ought to be a whole series of them done by different artists and shown at the empyrean or the shop on their outdoor screens or at the Magic Lantern. They could even be a part of the film festival with the grand prize being the inclusion of the film on tourism websites for the "alternative" tourist. Silent Bahb's comment on the street lighting is a good one. Non-essential lighting including business signs should be shut off at a certain time every night. Bring back the dark skies and the stars will come out!
Posted by: Levi | March 06, 2008 at 10:02 PM