The Invention of Heritage

As another subtopic of Malcolm Miles' lecture, we talked about tourism, culture, heritage and identity, all of which are more suitable to me and my interests. But for some reason, I am really struggling to think of something to put down...where to start...

I suppose I'll start with what I know. Todays tourist doesn't like to think of themselves as a "tourist," they are travelers, experiencing the strange other culture which they have traveled to...That may well be the conscious aim of the tourist, but that aim is becoming ever more easily satisfied with symbols and representations, simulacra. When the tourist visits Ireland, they want to experience that rugged Irish romanticism, the 'craic,' and the Irish tourist board realizes this. Marketing for the tourism sector (which contributes a huge percentage to the Irish economy) is geared toward the guarantee of Irishness. The tourist will be able to interact with and experience the people of Ireland first hand and engage in the culture which over 44 million Americans claim descendancy to (despite the population being less than one tenth of this figure). This leads Ireland to produce more and more tourist attractions geared toward these cultural tourists and in fact leads to the manufacturing and invention of various cultural and heritage sites. How is this any different to the invention and application of an Ireland themed amusement park in Busch Gardens, America?

This constructs a stereotypical and very unhealthy image of Ireland and it's culture, and has huge untold effects. With the aid of the Irish Tourist Board, all of these images are then reinforced in the prospectful visitors mind and eventually, upon the person's visit to Ireland, they are in fact visiting another theme park on a larger scale, Irelandland, where the attractions are littered around the country and the population are employed (more like slavery) to uphold and maintain the amusement park for the entertainment of others.

What's the difference?

As this was the topic of my BA Architecture dissertation, if you wanted to learn more about it then please go to www.stephenbrowne.co.nr and look under the dissertation tab, you'll find the full text to download, only copyright is that you have to hug at least three people in 24 hours who you wouldn't normally hug...

But this theme also runs through the policies of many tourist destinations. I visited Machu Pichu a few months back, and what I found was quite annoying and a little scary.

We spent a few days trekking, cycling and white water rafting through the pristine countryside of Peru, virtually met no no other humans until in the evenings we found small villages to stay in, and one other exception which I found absolutely brilliant and I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of it! About two hours after leaving the last town and in the midst of the jungle we met an old woman...with a stall...selling twix's and coke..insane..

But anyway, spent the days trekking, only to come into the new town of Aguas Calliantes, only recently built to accommodate for the recent surge in tourism. This place still held a little Peruvian culture, but was littered with pizzerias, Italian restaurants, cafés and tourist shops, a pretty cultureless non-place.

Machu Pichu itself was incredible. Woke at 5 and hiked up a huge jungle slope for about an hour to reach the entrance, which was littered with flatscreen tvs, picnic benches and tourist guides wielding umbrellas, another odd experience.

After eventually getting past all the payment stuff etc, we got in, and it was incredible. Such a beautiful and powerful place.

We spent hours walking around and soaking the atmosphere up, it was stunning. We hiked up to Wanu Pichu and looked down at the deserted ruins, the place was absolutely fantastic!! 

But then the tourism kicked in, 1st was this guy, so funny, we are in one of the most beautiful places on this earth, and this guy feels the need to tell his wife to turn the heating off...he also complained about the signal...

Then come the masses of tourists who waited for the shuttle bus service to start...There were thousands of them all clad in colorful raincoats and all longing to capture that famous postcard image of the site.

Just google Machu Pichu and this is what you will find;

(Interesting aside, turn picture counterclockwise and look for the face in the background) 

These tourists do not come in order to experience the atmosphere of the place, they don't come to appreciate the complex architectural and social systems that were in play, otherwise they would have been there when the atmosphere was present, sunrise, they come to collect the image, the symbol and tick off the list the taking of this photo represents...and I was one of them.

We, The People...

The past two seminars have been resided over by Malcolm Miles with his powerpoint called "When the Music's Over; Art, Museums, Austerity..?" Again,  Lefebvre was the hot topic of conversation this time, his piece "The Urban Revolution," made up part of our required reading. Again this chapter of 25 pages took well over three hours to read. I find his stuff unnecessarily complex and inaccessible, however that may be the frustrated naive teenager within me talking.

Chapter 4; Levels and Dimensions, is an extremely slippery chapter, as is most of Lefebvre's work, and coming to terms with some of the language was quite hard. As Henri Lefebvre was French, and wrote all of his pieces in his native tongue, then one has to wonder whether there is some elements lost in the translation. The translation, or any book in fact, has the same attribute as space and place, in the sense that each and every person carries with them the 'burden' of their past, all of us have experienced a different upbringing and posses alternative attitudes, experiences, intelligence and opinions, therefore, in any given 'place,' there are an infinite amount of 'spaces'...one person can enter the place, factors such as mood, weather and presences as well as the above mentioned 'burden' can alter that persons idea of the space, and create the idea of what that space is in that persons mind, which is incontrovertibly different from what another would experience... So getting back to the translation, The Urban Revolution, or "La Révolution Urbaine" was translated by Robert Bononno as late as 2003, which means 33 years passed before any non-French speaking person could read this piece. Again, you have to wonder what is lost, mixed and transfused in the conversion, even if the same translator undertook the project, there were much different forces at play thirty-three years ago. But even in the present day, I would get great satisfaction out of giving the French edition of the piece to another suitably bi-lingual and see the differences of meanings they would present. Then take into consideration another factor, possibly that the translator has an education in philosophy...architecture...anthropology...nursing? Then they themselves would see the book in different terms and adjust it accordingly. What I am trying to get to, although it may look like I'm ranting, is that The Urban Revolution may not even be what Lefebvre is trying to say, there could be some distortion of the main points going on, and how would we know the difference?

Lost in Translation??

Although it may seem like I don't believe that the translation has any validity, that is not true. I have every faith in Bononno and his intellect, and therefore believe that this is what Lefebvre was trying to get across, but I can't help but think the text must be (even slightly) more comprehensible in the original language.

But enough of that, the basis of the piece we were given to read, or what I took form the piece were two main points. The first were the levels of the city, G, M and P. G is the highest level, the Global level' 

“Power – the state as will and representation – is exercised at the global level. As will, the power of the state and the people who hold this power are associated with a political strategy or strategies. As representation, politicians have an ideologically justified political conception of space.” Lefebvre 1970

M is the 'medium level';

“Level M (mixed, mediator, or intermediary) is the specifically urban level. It is the level of the “city,” as the term is currently used. Let’s assume we can mentally withdraw from the map the city whatever is part of the global level, the state, and society – namely buildings such as ministries, prefectures, and cathedrals – and whatever depends on level P – privately owned buildings. Remaining on the map will be a built and an unbuilt domain: streets, squares, avenues, public buildings such as city halls, parish churches, schools and so on… What remains before us assumes a form that holds some relationship to the site (the immediate surroundings) and the situation (distant surroundings, global conditions)."

And P, the 'private' level, or the level of the individual;

“Level P appears (wrongly) to be somewhat more modest, even unimportant. Here only the built domain in the form of various buildings is of interest: housing primarily, including large apartment buildings, private homes both large and small, campgrounds, shantytowns.”

Lefebvre goes on to talk about what the individual levels entail and include, but the reader also has to remember that this was written in 1970...huge global and social changes have taken place which would have changed the way in which Lefebvre would have undertaken the task to identify these 'levels.' With the invention and current fixation of the internet, it means that everyone has access to the global at any given time, there are fluid interactions and interpenetrations which have developed between these 'levels,' so much so, that maybe they cannot be called 'levels any more as levels puts three separate and uncommunicating plateaus such as those in a video game.

There has been an undeniable shift in the paradigm, these 'levels' now exist in a much more fluid and interactionary way. This new development has some positive and some negative connotations, but living in a time where this mode of the three levels is all I know of, I feel like it wouldn't be right for me to comment on them. 

However, one thing has not changed in the past thirty three years, and I believe it won't change for thirty three more. That;

“It has been said many times, in keeping with Marx, that the “essence” of “man” cannot be found in the isolated individual but consists of a set of relationships or concrete (practical) social relationships. Generic man (in general) is only an abstraction.” (Lefebvre, 1970)

BackTracking continues...

10 October

Just after our second ARCH561 seminar and it was a really interesting hour and a half. Unfortunately I missed last weeks lecture with Adam Cowley-Evans, however, I met him last Wednesday to have a quick chat about what he had gone through and I got the reading/study list off of him. Both texts where quite hard and heavy reading, but I managed to get through and take a lot from them. I also watched a film on the subject and surprisingly began to link the topics of the pieces into other texts and real life scenarios I could think of.

Just a quick unrelated thing, the girl to my right in the library has one book in front of her while she creeps on some other girl called Vicky, and the book is called, "How to Think Like a Programmer"...really? thinking like a programmer...unless a programmer is some form of capitalist ninja force to suppress the population of the matrix then I think that is a slightly sad state of affairs. Oh great, and now she's eating a snickers with her mouth wide open and breathing heavily....looks like the effort of opening the wrapper really took its toll...I bet she's one of the types of people who eats that half eaten jelly bean which drops to an area of the floor that tends to gather the most hair and dust...just pick the crap of it and if you get a hair in your mouth, use it as floss...anywho...and I just say a blind guy...in the library...I suppose we have a braille section.

    Back to the seminar, although Henri Lefebvre's theories on place and space have really never taken a priority in my studies, it was very interesting. Adam had a few starting points for conversation, but after the first one, we didn’t need and prompting, the guys became entangled  in intellectual in-depth debates on the topics. There are three guys who are the prominent voices in the discussions, all of whom are intelligent guys, but I wouldn't class myself as one of those three. It may look like I have little opinion or ideas on the matters, but its the expressing them that gets me...I like to keep my ideas to myself, which is an extremely bad attribute, I think about the topic in debate, listen to others, and then make my own private judgement..this judgement tends to stay private, probably because I don't want to sound stupid...

The areas of Space and Place, and identity/ownership of the city are the main themes in Adams seminars and texts. As requested I read (I use the verb read, but thats not what I mean, I looked over the words and tried to comprehend the meanings and ideas the words present) small extracts of Henri Lefebvre and Michel De Certeau's Spatial Stories, these were tough intellectual texts in which ideas are portrayed through the use of metaphors, narratives and all other sorts of confusing english. I took quite a bit from the texts, but not as much as I did from the seminars.

Place is quite a significant theme in my research and will help form ideas and arguments in my thesis, however space has very little. It was good for me to see this abstract post-modern relationship of the two in relation to one another. I'm not going to attempt to highlight all of the things and theories I took from the past week or two, but some interesting arguments and questions have come up for me. Do we, as inhabitants of the city, have a right to the city? It is agreed that we should, but in the modern day 'real world', do we? Through sub-cultures, movements such as graffiti, and protests such as the current 'Occupy Wall Street' do we take and exercise our right to the city? There's a group that go by the name of space hijackers, who I think everyone should look up, they are awesome and I'd love to one day become part of something similar...I know Rob is interested in them too, maybe we could form a Plymouth branch..

Space Hijachers

Another group, or more like two guys and a girl, who are absolutely genius, are the 'everything is ok' guys (thats what I'm calling them) who go to areas which are debatably public/private and places of business like canary wharf and run the risk of breaching the peace by standing quietly with signs which read "everything is ok" or wielding megaphones and blaring witty comments.

Watch this video....

One thing I do find funny though, I found this out after an hour of what was debatably procrastination disguised as research, or maybe thats just what research in a field such as this is, just plain procrastination (just an aside, I saw an app called 'procrastinator' in the app store on my mac the other day...as if you need an app for it....). But a common sight among riots and groups, particularly in the current Occupy Wall Street protests and the group 'Anonymous' who have had a few well published stunts over the past two years, including protest at scientology's headquarters in East Grinstead, is the presence of the Guy Fawkes mask from Alan Moore's graphic novel. It is of course through the medium of the massive multi million dollar movie, V for Vendetta, the mask has claimed its fame and connotations... Sales of the mask are three times higher then any other mask on the market, particularly through its association with anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist, anti-corperate anarchy...HOWEVER, with ever sale of the mask, the global corporation Time Warner, father company of Warner Brothers which owns all copyrights to the movie V for Vendetta, makes a considerable cut of the price...They are paying their money earned by working for whatever multinational, back into the pocket of an organization which is among the top five richest corporations in America........

I am a massive fan of the movie, and the mask though to be honest...

Another 'movement' come from the Occupy Wall Street of the present time are things like Occupy George...A graphic design firm in America who have started to print facts onto dollar bills. There is a law in America which makes in illegal to render any currency so that it cannot circulate, hence burning a dollar bill, or drawing on one is a punishable offense...but check these guys out, really cool designs, and pretty much breaking the law...but their disclaimer reads;

"LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The intent behind Occupy George is not to render any money unfit to be reissued, and in fact the hope is that all stamped money will circulate as much as possible, passing knowledge to all those who come across the bills."

I feel I may have exhausted my input for today, but I hope that this is the style of product they want for submission...and I hope whoever in the MARE522 module will correct this has a sense of humor...

BackTracking

30 September 2011

Week one has been both daunting and inspirational. Daunting in the sense that we are expected to contribute intelligent dialogue during lectures/seminars and produce a much more accomplished piece then submitted in our third year dissertation. However, it is inspiring to think that I am now one of those people pursuing a research masters, one of those people I would have counted as intelligent…

    

   I am currently studying the Masters (by research) Architecture as a full time course, and have a few ideas of themes and subjects I would like to pursue, however a recent job offer may have thrown this up in the air and I am quite unsure about where I will be this time next year.

  My third year dissertation was something I enjoyed thoroughly, and the subject areas of identity, culture, heritage and tourism all still fascinate me, although a lot has changed for me since the completion of that piece. I feel like there is a lot more to the world/my interests then just Ireland, having lived abroad in Peru, and experienced various things my outlook has broadened. Perhaps this is indeed an evolutionary step backwards from my last written piece, but I think that pursuing the Irelandland theme is not something that is going to make up a large chunk of text of my work this year, but will probably creep in at some stage. However, the recent surge in mass travel and the availability and relative price of flights to more exotic locations such as South America and South East Asia is a phenomenon that has multiplied ten fold* in the last 20-50 years…The introduction of tarmac roads and Coca-Cola have been visible evidence of the spread of globalization…

What I have in mind at the moment is a concept based on the idea of ‘The Road.’ Looking at the road that cuts into the heart of the Peruvian Amazon jungle and its effects on the vernacular. As the road started to penetrate the previously untouched jungle and indigenous peoples it brought with it the wealth and unhealth that comes with westernization. Corrigated iron replaces adobe dwellings, coca-cola replaces spring water and deep unrest replaces natural tranquility. As one progresses down the road, it can viewed as a time-line; the next village on being slightly “behind” or “primitive” in comparison to the previous village, and so forth until the road gives way to a winding path in the dense jungle….the effects of this ‘westernization’ can be viewed by taking information and observing the different villages/tribes and their habits, culture, diet, health, wealth, happiness, politics and architecture……big ideas!! 

However, I don't think I should leave behind all the cultural tourism research I have done to solely look at this developing/capitalism based study, in fact, I have a feeling I am not going to formulate my ideal question for my piece until I have read a lot more...a lot more! I'm guessing/hoping my interests will start to hone in and develop as time and texts pass...hopefully.

*actual statistic unknown, merely a figure of speech.

The Elicitation

And so it begins...to be completely honest, I really have no idea how this 'blog' will turn out. I have joined the masses of self-publicated, opinionated 'bloggers' as I believe they call themselves, the majority of which have ridiculous ideas about things they know very little about. Its like the comments left under youtube videos which can provide hours of entertainment, an acne-ridden, hormone-burdoned teenager with illusions of anonymous grandeur and moral high ground...In fact, I much more value the other half of comments which either provoke these over-reactionary douches, or simply say "cunt"...genius! But enough of the ranting...actually, in ranting on about this very subject, do I slightly undermine myself and, like the longing of 'emo' kids to be different but actually just conform to a different set of fashions, and become the very same as all the others who want to be different. Meh, who am I to judge!

Right, back to this blogging business, as I intend to use this as a method of fulfilling the journal submission for my research in the arts module, you might become annoyed, confused or frustrated with my personal opinions, me trying to sound clever and apparently mapping my thought process...I do sound like a pretentious prick, but trust, I'm not too bad in person...I hope! So I plan to update this blog weekly with architecture research ideas etc etc, but will add some photos, possibly an odd video and accurate descriptions of how massive my penis really is.


Just one of my favorite videos shown to me by one Liam Draper whom I have to contact very soon...maybe now...I remember when I watched this first in the Lobby of the Manchester Hotel...weird how you remember the most random moments...but the music in this video is one of my utmost favorite songs...Big Red Machine by Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver) and Aaron Dressner.


Last minutes with Oden


The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted.—Mark the music


(nothing like quoting Shakespeare to make yourself look intelligent and appear cultured...)


Fun's over, next post will have to be intelligent....