Urban Sensoria
Manizales, Colombia (April 23rd- 26th, 2009)
with Andres
Burbano and Nathan Johnston
as part of the Festival Internacional de la Imagen 
Young Leonardo´s program to celebrate Leonardo´s
40th anniversary
A
multimedia, sensorial exploration of the structured, repetitive,
random,
personal, cultural, space-and-scale of the city.
[ESPAÑOL ABAJO]
Urban Sensoria is an experimental method of experiencing and
exploring the city. It is also a theoretical inquiry into cities, culture,
memory, experience, and how it relates to traditional media and new
technologies.
Previous workshops were held in Singapore
and in Barcelona, as part of
the Barcelona International Contemporary Arts Festival. Shimokitazawa (Tokyo, Japan) was the
stage of Urban Typhoon, under which some of the concepts behind the Sensoria were developed (thanks Tokyo!).
URBAN SENSORIA CONCEPTS
The city and culture
The city is a physical representation of culture: the materials, the smells,
the colours, the surfaces are all cultural manifestations. Culture is both the
interface through which we sense everything and the machine through which the
city is created and transformed. Each physical area develops its own unique
forms. The initial layout of the city sets a stage, a breeding ground for
things to grow. The city grows like the roots of a tree, in many directions,
molded by the initial layout and local culture. The city is created by a
multiplicity of individual expressions that influence each other and create a
unique identity. An area of the city is a collective self, constantly evolving.
Senses and memory
The city is experienced through the
senses, but our sensory experiences are shaped and filtered by culture, so the
city is an infinitely personal experience that exists as a memory that
constantly changes as we experience it over and over again. Memory input
depends entirely on the senses, and thus the city itself is a collection of
sensed memories. But it is
not a random or complete, methodical collection. Rather, it is a collection
shaped by our own individual selves. A city is unique to every individual or
group of individuals. The connection between the (collective) self and the
city, whether by choice or by accident (nobody chooses their first city) is
often inseparable. Memory is not of things past, it is of things present as it
shapes what we sense and how we sense it. It determines everything we experience.
Self and experience
A new city is experienced, inevitably, as seen through the self
and compared with the cities that have shaped that self. This connection
between the self and the city is what makes us identify with a particular
physical space of a particular city. But the sensory experience of the city can
be determined by many different factors: we can choose a form of navigation
(walking, running, driving, flying, crawling), and a speed (slow, medium,
fast), and we can choose a sensory focus (smell the city, observe it, listen to
its sounds, to strangers’ conversations). We can also determine how
we navigate through the city-we may explore it randomly given its physical
constraints, follow shortest paths to reach places, look for markers or monuments,
or simply follow sensory intuition (how many times have you followed smells in
a city?).
Urban Sensoria Workshop Manizales,
Colombia with Andres
Burbano and Nathan Johnston
In this workshop we are interested in
exploring the ways we explore the city, guided by our senses, the culture that
shapes them, and the city itself. Given the special nature of Singapore, we
will explore more than one area of the city, comparing contrasts between
neighborhoods such as Little India, Arab Street, China Town, and the shopping
districts.
Registration: please register with the festival (link below).
Program
The workshop starts Thursday, April 23rd
at 2:00 pm and ends Sunday, April 26th at 10:00 am. Most meetings
are between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm to allow participants to attend other sessions
of the festival. The WORKSHOP
schedule is COMPLETELY flexible (to allow attendance to Festival de la Imagen events). Most
important is the initial meeting on Thursday, after which we will arrange other
meetings to discuss our experiences. Participants from Manizales are encouraged
as much as participants from abroad!
Format: workshop will consist of meetings,
and explorations which take place between meeting times. The initial meeting
(and most subsequent meetings) will take place at the Sala Humberto Gallego of
the University.
o
Thursday, April 23rd: meet from 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm, 6:00pm-7:00 pm &
10:00-11:00 pm. Exploration between meetings.
o
Friday, April 24th: explore, meet for lunch, and in the evening for
drinks.
o
Saturday, April 25th: explore, meet for lunch, and in the evening for
drinks.
o
Sunday, April 26th: closing breakfast from 8:00-10:00 am.
Detailed program
The workshop consists mainly of activities
around the neighborhood(s) chosen by the participants using sensory recordings
in different forms (more below for the
sensory modes!).
Day 1: two hours
[Thursday, April 23rd, 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm]
In the first meeting we will discuss
projects related to Urban Sensoria, provide background information on
Singapore, discuss the themes above and share experiences. Each person will
then try to create maps of ways in which they experience cities-we
will experiment with different forms of mapmaking. These maps will be shared
and will form the basis of the work the rest of the day.
2:00-2:30 warm-up and introductions
2:30-3:00 explanation of the workshop process and technical
details
3:00-3:30 presentation of related projects and exploration
methods
3:30-3:45 break
3:45-4:15 individual brainstorming of
exploration methods
4:15-4:30 exchange of ideas
4:30-6:00 exploration
6:00-7:00 meeting to discuss exploration
Day 2: Friday, April 24th,
exploration time flexible, meeting times similar to day 1.
We will meet to continue the discussion
from the previous day and start thinking of ways to create and share our
experiences. Participants may choose a plan (including random exploration) and
the means to document it (including memory) and explore an area of the city,
individually or in teams. Participants will then go out and explore that area
of the city over several hours and we will meet again to examine, construct,
and deconstruct the results. We will then choose a different exploration
mechanism (and possibly method) for the next day.
Day 3: Saturday, April
25th
We will explore the city using the new
method, converge for lunch and share experiences, draw conclusions, ask
questions, make presentations.
Day 4: Sunday, April 26th
Breakfast to discuss relevant experiences &
conclude.
Modes: Touching, smelling, listening, tasting, seeing.
Techniques Photo, interview, filming, editing, mapping, writing...
Things to bring
(completely open, bring any or none!):
- Laptops
with animation, flash, film, VJ or music editing software
- Cameras,
video-cameras, sound recorders,
- Storage
devices (external hard drives, DVDs)
- Sketchbook/note
book
- Pens and
markers
Inspirational reading
The empire of the senses (David Howes)
Aural cultures (ed. Jim Drobnick)
Invisible cities (Italo Calvino)
Image of the City (Kevin Lynch)
SENSORIAL URBANO
La ciudad y la cultura
La ciudad es la representacion fisica de la
cultura: los materiales, los olores , los colores, las superficies, son todas manifestaciones
culturales. La cultura es a la vez la interfaz a traves del cual todo
percibimos todo y es la maquina a traves de la cual la ciudad se crea y se
transforma. Cada area fisica desarrolla sus propias formas singulares. El
trazado inicial de la ciudad establece una etapa, el lugar mas favorable para
que las cosas crezcan. La ciudad crece como las raices de un arbol, en muchos
sentidos, moldeada por su trazado inicial y por la cultura local. La ciudad ha
sido creada por una multiplicidad de expresiones individuales que se
influencian entre si y crean una identidad unica. Una zona de la ciudad es un
colectivo autonomo, en constante desarrollo.
Los
sentidos y la memoria
La ciudad se experimenta a traves de los
sentidos, pero nuestras experiencias sensoriales se forman y filtran a traves
de la cultura, por lo que la ciudad es infinitamente una experiencia personal
que existe en la memoria que cambia constantemente a la vez que la
experimentamos una y otra vez. El input de la memoria depende totalmente de los sentidos, y por lo tanto
la ciudad en si es una coleccion de memorias sensoriales. Pero no es una
coleccion completamente al azar o completamente metodica, por el contrario, se
trata de una coleccion perfilada por nuestra propia identidad. Una ciudad que
es unica para cada persona o grupo de personas. La conexion entre el (lo
colectivo) yo y la ciudad, ya sea por eleccion o por accidente (nadie elige su
primera ciudad) es con frecuencia inseparable. Memoria no de cosas del pasado,
es de las cosas del presente, ya que da forma a lo que percibimos y a como lo
percibimos, determina todo lo que experimentamos.
El
yo y lo experimentado
Una nueva ciudad es experimentada,
inevitablemente, como se puede ver a traves del sujeto y la comparacion con las
ciudades que han dado forma a ese sujeto. Esta conexion entre el sujeto y la
ciudad es lo que nos hace identificar con un espacio fisico determinado de una
ciudad en particular. Pero la experiencia sensorial de la ciudad puede ser
determinada por factores diferentes: podemos escoger una forma de navegacion
(caminar, correr, de conduccion de vuelo, de rastreo), y una velocidad (lento,
medio, rapido), y podemos elegir un foco sensorial (oler la ciudad, observarla,
escuchar sus sonidos, conversaciones de extranos). Tambien podemos determinar
como navegar a traves de la ciudad, podemos explorarla al azar debido a su
limitaciones fisicas, seguir los caminos mas cortos para llegar a los lugares,
buscar senales monumentos, o simplemente para seguir la intuicion sensorial
(cuantas veces has seguido olores en la ciudad?)
Urban
Sensoria Workshop Manizales
En este taller investigaremos las formas en que
exploramos la ciudad, guiados por nuestros sentidos, la cultura que les da
forma, y la ciudad por ella misma. El taller se llevara a cabo en el centro
histórico de Manizales.
Programa
El taller consta principalmente de actividades
en el centro usando varios metodos de grabacion sensorial. Durante la duracion del
taller, las personas inscritas tendran la opcion de regresar a la “base”
(almazen) para bajar sus materiales a un servidor central, re-examinar los
materials creados, y crear collages en varios medios.
El taller comienza el Jueves 23 de Abril a las 2:00
pm y termina el Domingo 26 de Abril a las 10:00 am.
Formato: el taller consiste en reuniones, y
exploraciones que se llevan a cabo entre las horas de reunion. Exploraciones
adicionales dependen de los participantes. La reunion inicial y otras reunions
se llevaran a cabo en la sala Humberto Gallego de la Universidad.
Horario:
·
Jueves
Abril 23: reunion de 2:00 pm a
4:30 pm, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm & 10:00-11:00 pm. Exploracion entre reuniones.
·
Viernes,
Abril 24: explorar, reunión para
almorzar, y en la noche para beber.
·
Sabado,
Abril 25: explorar, reunión para
almorzar, y en la noche para beber.
·
Domingo,
Abril 26: desayuno de 8:00-10:00 am
Programa [Ver seccion en ingles
para programa detallado hora a hora]
Dia
1: Jueves 23 de Abril, 9 horas (2 pm -11 pm)
En la primera reunion vamos a presentar
informacion sobre la ciudad, a hablar de proyectos relacionados a Urban
Sensoria, y a discutir los temas descritos anteriormente y compartir
experiencias. Cada persona intentara crear mapas de maneras de experimentar las
ciudades -estudiaremos diferentes formas de cartografiar. Estos mapas seran
compartidos y formara la base del trabajo al dia siguiente.
Dia
2: Viernes 24 de Abril , 9 horas (2 pm- 11 pm)
Nos reuniremos para continuar con el debate del
dia anterior y empezar a pensar en maneras de crear y compartir nuestras
experiencias. Los participantes elegiran un plan (incluida la exploracion al
azar) y los medios necesarios documentar (incluyendo la memoria) y explorar una
zona de la ciudad, individualmente o en equipos. Nos reuniremos de nuevo para
examinar, construir y deconstruir los resultados. En la noche, presentaremos
nuestras experiencias. A continuacion, elegiremos otro mecanismo de exploracion
(y el posible metodo) para el proximo dia.
Dia
3: Sabado 25 de Abril
Exploraremos la ciudad, utilizando el nuevo
metodo, comemos de (2 p.m. - 3pm) y compartimos las experiencias, extraeremos
conclusiones, formular preguntas (3 pm - 5 pm).
Modos: Tocar, oler, escuchar, probar, observar.
Tecnicas : Fotogarfia, entrevista, filmacion, edicion, la cartografia, la
escritura...
Cosas para traer:
- Laptops con la animaciin, el flash, el cine, VJ o un software de edicion de
musica
- Camaras de video y camaras
- Dispositivos de almacenamiento (discos duros externos, DVD)
- Sketchbook / libretas
- Boligrafos y rotuladores
Lectura inspiracional
The
empire of the senses (David Howes)
Aural
cultures (ed. Jim Drobnick)
Invisible
cities (Italo Calvino)
Image of the City (Kevin Lynch)