Flâneur: Statement

This project was heavily influenced by the work of The Graffiti Lab. This project attempts to replicate the elegantly simple construction of LED Throwies created by The Graffiti Lab, with additional technological pieces, to engage in a conversation with a conceptual deconstruction of predetermined urban pedestrian routes. Historical concepts of strolling pedestrians interacting with the urbanized environment created the notion of the ‘Flâneur.’ It was this conceptual figure that embodied the essential wondrous elements of human nature unbiased by capitalistic segregation and unitization of the world around him as noted by Walter Benjamin. The flâneur was a living part of the city and facilitated the growth of urban culture through an individualized spectatorship. The nuance of the flâneur however should not be confused with the concept of the “badaud” who is completely enveloped by the spectatorship to a point of intoxication. The badaud is irreverent to the scene through a lack of individualized exploration making them akin to just a member of a crowd; the public. The strategic implementation of my LED lights is done in hopes to accidentally spark some curiosity in a passing pedestrian. This poses the possibility of the accidental creation of a Reno flâneur who, through internalized curiosity, seeks their own path rerouting the predestined urbanized routes. However, it is important to note the conceptual significance of the project. The pieces do not function as a way-finding method or a means of marking a particular path. These intentions would rob the possible viewers of any hopes to discover their own curiosity or their individualized participatory role in the delineation of urbanized pedestrian routes. Equally the participation of the Reno public is not a measure of success. The piece both stands alone as a statement of curiosity and the romanticized loss of the flâneur and also as the same statement ready for interaction with passing pedestrians. The two possibilities are not mutually exclusive. I hope to refine this concept in the future and create motion-activated LED's that emphasize the 'chance' nature of curiosity in conversation with the exploratory nature of the flâneur. The location was chosen from a series of possibilities throughout Reno where heavy foot-traffic rendered these locations insignificant from predetermined urban routes. However the piece is not site specific to this particular location and I hope to expand this concept to other sites in the future.