As my first attempt wasnt a success, i have decided to give it another go....after do some research again..and whilst disscussing with the group whats best to define psychogeography..i have chosen Guy Debord's interpretation of what psychogeography is.....
"Only an awareness of the influences of the existing environment can encourage the critique of the present conditions of daily life, and yet it is precisely this concern with the environment which we live which is ignored."
I thought this was the perfect definition of psycho...as we became to call it....it is all about the ignored and undiscovered place/area....
http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
having a go at editing.....
im not usually the one who likes to be on the technical side, i rather be one of those people who sit back and give an input, of what goes in, what goes out, and just generally say how the feel should be...but i was willing to give it a go..i was at first kinda scared to do the editing, becasue i thought it would be compicated, but i was wrong....once you get the hang of it, its actually quite simple..more fool me..heheh......i quite enjoy the editing part now, knowing how to do it.....
i was given along with kibibie to edit the past and future page of elephant and castle....it's real interesting to see the old and the new revamped elephant and castle images.....its weird to think that in a few years elephant and castle won't be recognisible.....it literally is having a make-over....
i was given along with kibibie to edit the past and future page of elephant and castle....it's real interesting to see the old and the new revamped elephant and castle images.....its weird to think that in a few years elephant and castle won't be recognisible.....it literally is having a make-over....
final thought......
i didnt really think that much of blogging, i thought it would be something i would find boring, but it turned out to be ok...it was interesting learning something new and having a new skill....i enjoyed doing the group wiki, because normally when we have to do group work, i normally stay with my friends and people you know....but it was nice to work with other members of the course and get to know them......it was fun while it lasted......
the end of an era...kinda.....
last ever blogging class has happened...with it being the last, stress came with it..only a week to go and hand our final group wiki in, it reallyy was all hands on deck for this week....most of the work was done, it was just adding the finishing touch's, which is always the worst part, because that always seem to take up the most time, and instead of focusing on the main work....eventually we got back to what we had to do....
Jas being hyper from her shift at the airport, became a bossy boots (in a good way), and kinda gave us all things to do, which i think was good, becasue we would have probably all been sitting at the one computer and trying to get everything done, but instead we all had tasks, and got on with them....me and Marissa, proof read some of the wiki..to make sure everything was good and there weren't many spelling mistakes......and then i got onto editing my page.................
Jas being hyper from her shift at the airport, became a bossy boots (in a good way), and kinda gave us all things to do, which i think was good, becasue we would have probably all been sitting at the one computer and trying to get everything done, but instead we all had tasks, and got on with them....me and Marissa, proof read some of the wiki..to make sure everything was good and there weren't many spelling mistakes......and then i got onto editing my page.................
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
group........
we have also decided to add another two pages towards our wiki....to make it more fun and add additional information, that we would not have put in the main wiki....were on course of getting it done...this week, we are going to go and take pictures of the group, for the group wiki page...and close up pictures of the places we have chosen to talk about, i.e. the surrounding areas of elephant and castle...from that we will be able to comment on the pictures in the following blogging class...clocks ticking away.......arghhh.....
slowly but getting there...our group....
as the title suggest slowly but getting there with our group wiki.....i think we are on track to finishing it on time, hopefully....at the moment it feels its all in the air, becasue were still discussing how the wiki is gonna look, which is important, its got to look good and be understanable by others, but i think we have been spending too much time on the presenation rather than actually putting infromation onto the wiki page. the look and feel of the presentation can be done at the end, once all is completed, but i have faith in my group we are going to complete it on time, and be looking good.
after another close disscussion with the group, we thought that the easiest way was to split the titles/ sub-headings on our wiki and do it at home,and bring it in the following week, therefore giving us more time to focus and give a good wiki..
after another close disscussion with the group, we thought that the easiest way was to split the titles/ sub-headings on our wiki and do it at home,and bring it in the following week, therefore giving us more time to focus and give a good wiki..
Thursday, 26 February 2009
group progression
We officially began designing our wiki page...we collected a few images of the internet, to show the different types of psychogeography, but also keeping in tune with our quotation, that we have chosen to sum up psychogeography....its amazing and fascinating when you type in the search engine, undiscovered places, that you get so many beautiful and striking places, that you didnt even know exsited in the world....
As a group we were able to do the front page of our wiki, and suprisingly all agreed on the colour and how the layout of the wiki/page should be, because normally there is allways someone disagreeing with something, but seems we have a very reasonable group, which is good.....
I think we will be able to complete our wiki, in our next lecture, as theres not alot more to do, apart from define what psychogeography means to us as a group, upload the pictures of elephant and castle, and us the group.......so near enough done.....
As a group we were able to do the front page of our wiki, and suprisingly all agreed on the colour and how the layout of the wiki/page should be, because normally there is allways someone disagreeing with something, but seems we have a very reasonable group, which is good.....
I think we will be able to complete our wiki, in our next lecture, as theres not alot more to do, apart from define what psychogeography means to us as a group, upload the pictures of elephant and castle, and us the group.......so near enough done.....
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
group meeting....
Our first group official meeting went down a success, hehe...not only did we find a good definition of psychogeography, it helped us form the hook of our project and what it would be based around...the defintion we got to sum up our work was..." Only an awareness of the influences of the existing environment can encourage the critique of the present conditions of daily life, and yet it is precisely this concern with the environment which we live which is ignored".
From that quotation, we have decided to look into Elephant and Castle. We feel Elephant and Castle is looked down upon, yet the place is surrounded by some fascinating places, like the Salvation Army centre is not far off from the Elephant shopping centre, you got the Imperial War Museum near by aswell....whats also interesting is the place is gonna be modernised...with new infrustructure...elephant and castle is getting a new look........
(The quotations are from http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans/psychogeog.html)
From that quotation, we have decided to look into Elephant and Castle. We feel Elephant and Castle is looked down upon, yet the place is surrounded by some fascinating places, like the Salvation Army centre is not far off from the Elephant shopping centre, you got the Imperial War Museum near by aswell....whats also interesting is the place is gonna be modernised...with new infrustructure...elephant and castle is getting a new look........
(The quotations are from http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans/psychogeog.html)
Monday, 9 February 2009
psychogeography..what is it?????.....
Psychogeography what is it? In its simplest term it is about cities and their surroundings in my opinion. It’s about discovering something new about that city that you would have not previously associated with that place. It’s in relation to form and shape a new identity for that chosen city or area of that place.
Psychogeography first came to be used in 1955 by Guy Debord who described psychogeography as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
Debord aim was to “unify two different factors of "ambiance" that, he felt, determined the values of the urban landscape: the soft ambiance – light, sound, time, the association of ideas – with the hard, the actual physical constructions. Debord's vision was a combination of the two realms of opposing ambiance, where the play of the soft ambiance was actively considered in the rendering of the hard. The new space creates a possibility for activity not formerly determined by one besides the individual”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
By means of characterization, psychogeography combines “subjective and objective knowledge and studies. Debord struggled to stipulate the finer points of this theoretical paradox, ultimately producing "Theory of the Dérive" in 1958, a document which essentially serves as an instruction manual for the psychogeographic procedure, executed through the act of derive ("drift")”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
Debord argues that “in a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there… But the dérive includes both this letting go and its necessary contradiction: the domination of psychogeographical variations by the knowledge and calculation of their possibilities”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
And that what psychogeography is all about, letting go and exploring the area you have chosen, allowing yourself to be taken to the different spaces and path’s of that place. I think there’s the fascination of allowing the path and road to take you to a new way of means. By doing that, you as a tourist, learn something intriguing and new about the place, instead of having a plan of where you want to go.
The term psychogeography is still a popular term in today’s society. From 1980 to today, psychogeography has grown and diverged mostly through the re-emergence of the London Psychogeographical Association. “As situationist theory became popular in academic circles, avant-garde, neoist and revolutionary groups emerged, developing the praxis in various ways. This interest survives today, manifested in a number of groups practicing contemporary psychogeography. The journal Transgressions: A Journal of Urban Exploration (which appears to have ceased publication sometime in 2000) collated and developed a number of post-avant-garde revolutionary psychogeographical themes” (Wikipedia, 2009)
Psychogeography also become a way used in performance art and literature. In Britain in particular, psychogeography has become “a recognised descriptive term used in discussion of successful writers such as Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd and the documentaries of filmmaker Patrick Keiller. The popularity of Sinclair drew the term into greater public use in the United Kingdom. Though Sinclair makes infrequent use of the jargon associated with the Situationists, he has certainly popularized the term by producing a large body of work based on pedestrian exploration of the urban and suburban landscape. Sinclair and similar thinkers draw on a longstanding British literary tradition of the exploration of urban landscapes, predating the Situationists, found in the work of writers like William Blake, Arthur Machen, and Thomas de Quincy. The nature and history of London were a central focus of these writers, utilising romantic, gothic, and occult ideas to describe and transform the city. Sinclair drew on this tradition combined with his own explorations as a way of criticising modern developments of urban space in such key texts as Lights Out for the Territory. Peter Ackroyd's bestselling London: A Biography was partially based on similar sources. Merlin Coverly gives equal prominence to this literary tradition alongside Situationism in his book Psychogeography (2006), not only recognising that the situationist origins of psychogeography are sometimes forgotten, but that via certain writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Daniel Defoe and Charles Baudelaire they had a shared tradition. Psychogeography, as a term and a concept, now reaches more British eyes than ever before, as novelist Will Self has a column of that name which started out in the British Airways in-flight magazine and now appears weekly in the Saturday magazine of The Independent newspaper.A core element in virtually all these developments remains a dissatisfaction with the nature and design of the modern environment and a desire to make the everyday world more interesting” (Wikipedia, 2009).
If I was doing the project on my own rather than with a group, in order to meet the modules criteria/outlines, I would first and foremost research into what psychogeography is. Having once found the definition of what psychogeography is, I would start to look at places around London that I could portray in another way/ illustrate a different side and quality to that place. For example like Buckingham Place or one of London’s renowned underground stations. Give the readers a new perspective and outlook of that locale.
It’s important that the place that is chosen is a place that has not be hinged a lot, to give it some authenticity and realism. You want to represent the place as real as possible and something that defines that certain environment. You want to give the readers new information and something they may have not known about that place before. I believe it’s important, in discovering and learning something new, instead of being told the same information.
Bibliography:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography
Psychogeography first came to be used in 1955 by Guy Debord who described psychogeography as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
Debord aim was to “unify two different factors of "ambiance" that, he felt, determined the values of the urban landscape: the soft ambiance – light, sound, time, the association of ideas – with the hard, the actual physical constructions. Debord's vision was a combination of the two realms of opposing ambiance, where the play of the soft ambiance was actively considered in the rendering of the hard. The new space creates a possibility for activity not formerly determined by one besides the individual”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
By means of characterization, psychogeography combines “subjective and objective knowledge and studies. Debord struggled to stipulate the finer points of this theoretical paradox, ultimately producing "Theory of the Dérive" in 1958, a document which essentially serves as an instruction manual for the psychogeographic procedure, executed through the act of derive ("drift")”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
Debord argues that “in a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their usual motives for movement and action, their relations, their work and leisure activities, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there… But the dérive includes both this letting go and its necessary contradiction: the domination of psychogeographical variations by the knowledge and calculation of their possibilities”. (Wikipedia, 2009)
And that what psychogeography is all about, letting go and exploring the area you have chosen, allowing yourself to be taken to the different spaces and path’s of that place. I think there’s the fascination of allowing the path and road to take you to a new way of means. By doing that, you as a tourist, learn something intriguing and new about the place, instead of having a plan of where you want to go.
The term psychogeography is still a popular term in today’s society. From 1980 to today, psychogeography has grown and diverged mostly through the re-emergence of the London Psychogeographical Association. “As situationist theory became popular in academic circles, avant-garde, neoist and revolutionary groups emerged, developing the praxis in various ways. This interest survives today, manifested in a number of groups practicing contemporary psychogeography. The journal Transgressions: A Journal of Urban Exploration (which appears to have ceased publication sometime in 2000) collated and developed a number of post-avant-garde revolutionary psychogeographical themes” (Wikipedia, 2009)
Psychogeography also become a way used in performance art and literature. In Britain in particular, psychogeography has become “a recognised descriptive term used in discussion of successful writers such as Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd and the documentaries of filmmaker Patrick Keiller. The popularity of Sinclair drew the term into greater public use in the United Kingdom. Though Sinclair makes infrequent use of the jargon associated with the Situationists, he has certainly popularized the term by producing a large body of work based on pedestrian exploration of the urban and suburban landscape. Sinclair and similar thinkers draw on a longstanding British literary tradition of the exploration of urban landscapes, predating the Situationists, found in the work of writers like William Blake, Arthur Machen, and Thomas de Quincy. The nature and history of London were a central focus of these writers, utilising romantic, gothic, and occult ideas to describe and transform the city. Sinclair drew on this tradition combined with his own explorations as a way of criticising modern developments of urban space in such key texts as Lights Out for the Territory. Peter Ackroyd's bestselling London: A Biography was partially based on similar sources. Merlin Coverly gives equal prominence to this literary tradition alongside Situationism in his book Psychogeography (2006), not only recognising that the situationist origins of psychogeography are sometimes forgotten, but that via certain writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Daniel Defoe and Charles Baudelaire they had a shared tradition. Psychogeography, as a term and a concept, now reaches more British eyes than ever before, as novelist Will Self has a column of that name which started out in the British Airways in-flight magazine and now appears weekly in the Saturday magazine of The Independent newspaper.A core element in virtually all these developments remains a dissatisfaction with the nature and design of the modern environment and a desire to make the everyday world more interesting” (Wikipedia, 2009).
If I was doing the project on my own rather than with a group, in order to meet the modules criteria/outlines, I would first and foremost research into what psychogeography is. Having once found the definition of what psychogeography is, I would start to look at places around London that I could portray in another way/ illustrate a different side and quality to that place. For example like Buckingham Place or one of London’s renowned underground stations. Give the readers a new perspective and outlook of that locale.
It’s important that the place that is chosen is a place that has not be hinged a lot, to give it some authenticity and realism. You want to represent the place as real as possible and something that defines that certain environment. You want to give the readers new information and something they may have not known about that place before. I believe it’s important, in discovering and learning something new, instead of being told the same information.
Bibliography:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
website analysis
I have choosen to analyse the website of Versace......
CONTENT:-
The images on the Versace website, go in correspondent with the company's design i.e. the fact that it is very high class, the design is very sophisticated.....the images are appropraite, becasue Versace is all about design, fashion and high class... the information that is provided on the website is appropriate, because what is on the website is to do with fashion and that is what Versace is all about fashion and design, therefore the language used replicates the language that is used in the fashion world......
Presentation:-
The background of the website is very stylish and sophisticated.The pages dont seem cluttered, there seems to be a sense of space around each page clicked on, making the whole website feel spacious, open and large.
The colours used on the website work for the brand, because it represents the chicness, the classiness, the elegant and tastefullness that is the brand Versace.
Obviously majority of the people in the world know Versace and that it is a big, influential brand name, and therefore the graphics used on the website correspond with the brands ideals and what they sell to the public.....
Organization:-
The Versace website is organized really well...having already mentioned, the webiste is very minimal, something you would expect from a top fashion brand such as Versace..the website is easily layed out, therefore making it easier for the consumer to look through the website, the bar showing the each sections is neatly and simply displayed on the website, with space between each section, making it not look so cramped, overcrowed and confined.
It is very easy to navigate through each section of the website and come back to the desired page that you wanted.Whatever section you click on relates back to what Versace is all about, i.e. fashion.
CONTENT:-
The images on the Versace website, go in correspondent with the company's design i.e. the fact that it is very high class, the design is very sophisticated.....the images are appropraite, becasue Versace is all about design, fashion and high class... the information that is provided on the website is appropriate, because what is on the website is to do with fashion and that is what Versace is all about fashion and design, therefore the language used replicates the language that is used in the fashion world......
Presentation:-
The background of the website is very stylish and sophisticated.The pages dont seem cluttered, there seems to be a sense of space around each page clicked on, making the whole website feel spacious, open and large.
The colours used on the website work for the brand, because it represents the chicness, the classiness, the elegant and tastefullness that is the brand Versace.
Obviously majority of the people in the world know Versace and that it is a big, influential brand name, and therefore the graphics used on the website correspond with the brands ideals and what they sell to the public.....
Organization:-
The Versace website is organized really well...having already mentioned, the webiste is very minimal, something you would expect from a top fashion brand such as Versace..the website is easily layed out, therefore making it easier for the consumer to look through the website, the bar showing the each sections is neatly and simply displayed on the website, with space between each section, making it not look so cramped, overcrowed and confined.
It is very easy to navigate through each section of the website and come back to the desired page that you wanted.Whatever section you click on relates back to what Versace is all about, i.e. fashion.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
ooppss my mistake.....
instead of writing the first american black president i wrote, the worle heheheh.........i mean first black american president...............
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
barack obama day
barack obama becoming the first black president of the world is some achivement....it gives hope to people that whatever dream and aspirations you have in life they are achievable, whatever race, nationality or ethnicity you are....think big or small and have the determination and courage to go out there and grab it by the "horns" so to speak.................he has the whole world on his shoulders
history in the making...........
today is the day history is made...........first black american president...very exciting.........hopefully a new era and change in the world.....go Barack...
Monday, 19 January 2009
first week done and dusted
first week back at uni..and a very stressful one...what with having to find a job placement for third term...havent even begun searching properly.....looking forward to blogging something new to learn.....hopefully it will be a interetsing term.....
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
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