Has anyone got tips on mobile apps that facilitate the art of meandering? I'll start:
- dérive app (disclosure: I'm one of the creators). A web-based mobile app based on psychogeographic principles for discovering your urban environment, that works on any device in any location.
- drift. An app for getting lost in familiar places. For iOS.
- Serendipitor. An app aiding urban exploration. For iOS (but seemingly no longer available).
- Detour. Audio walks to discover the less traveled roads of San Francisco. For iOS.
I'll start:
- dérive app (disclosure: I'm one of the creators). A web-based mobile app based on psychogeographic principles for discovering your urban environment, that works on any device in any location.
- drift. An app for getting lost in familiar places. For iOS.
- Serendipitor. An app aiding urban exploration. For iOS (but seemingly no longer available).
- Detour. Audio walks to discover the less traveled roads of San Francisco. For iOS.
@amyggalexander I responded to your new question, but I don't seem to be able to delete my old post.
@amyggalexander You're being presented with a false dichotomy. Elsewhere in this thread, it was mentioned using a map of one city to navigate another city. That map is a tool. An app is a tool. Do these readers that ask you this question on using an app also question the use of a map of some city to navigate another?
Or, more to the point, exactly because of using a tool, it's possible to meander with even less of a preconceived, or unknowingly hidden, agenda.
Or, more blatant, think of a metronome. A metronome is a tool for musicians to keep the rhythm. Now consider a metronome that purposely and continuously is out of step. Now consider a mobile app that does exactly that in relation to exploring an urban environment.
@amyggalexander Typically, apps streamline. In the context of this discussion, Google maps easily tells you the easiest route from A to B. But what if an app somehow obstructs taking the obvious route and has you discover your surroundings as a consequence?
@LindaLappin1 That. Is. Awesome.
@Renegade_Image Perhaps I should have said 'highly designed' as opposed to 'highly curated', but I think the point remains.
Are there any examples of meaningful maps created by the Situationists as a consequence of doing dérives? With 'meaningful' I mean maps that could somehow be used by a third party to trace the original experience.
@Renegade_Image Can you name a few of these apps?
@amyggalexander Debord very clearly saw psychogeography as an anti-consumerist movement. For those interested, read Debord's The Society of the Spectacle.
@amyggalexander Well, exactly by avoiding the beaten path, you're putting your focus not on what are the obvious subjects around you. In the modern city, that what is designed to draw your attention are typically consumerist symbols; big billboards, store fronts, etc. By doing a dérive, you are anti-consumerist by design.
The political component of psychogeography is clear, but I don't think that really extends to just the dérive, outside of the anti-consumerist perspective.
@Renegade_Image I'm looking for apps that work in any environment, not just places where venues have been curated specifically for the app, which sounds like what you're describing.
The first three in my list above work anywhere in the world. Are there more examples like that?
@Renegade_Image Indeed. Here's a link to Solnit's book on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1FeypR7
@Renegade_Image Well, it would be awesome if you could share a few examples.
@amyggalexander I feel the natural photographic companion to psychogeography is glitch-art.
@BobbySeal1 You're quite spot on, I'd say.
@gwenmccauley From Wikipedia: "Psychogeography is an approach to geography that emphasizes playfulness and "drifting" around urban environments." So, the answer to your question is 'no'. And, this makes sense, as the Situationist movement is very much anti-consumerist, which is not very relevant outside of an urban landscape.
But, as you point out, similar principles around 'drifting' can of course apply anywhere.
@amyggalexander Yes. The origin of glitch art lies with corrupted image files in 8-bit computer systems, dating back to the 1980s.
In case anyone is interested, I create 'glitchie' selfies: https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=bf:profilepicture=1
@ElaineAxten Feather merchants! That's quite... unique.
@Renegade_Image Very nice.
All places in that list are visited by millions of people each year. (Well, Machu Picchu by perhaps half a million.) That doesn't seem like they are 'least accessible'.
Enjoyable!
Well well. Hello Derive app and Kompl.
@hitriddle Hey there. It seems I don't get an email if I don't check my notifications here on the site :(
I'm not really the right person to ask; I am one of the two people behind Dérive app. :)
Both Dérive app and Kompl are unique ways to discover an urban environment, specifically because they are about getting lost, not finding the 'best restaurant', 'nearest cafe', 'shortest route to...', or any of the things that conventional travel apps provide their users.
@Renegade_Image Nice link with some gorgeous maps. However, it's kind of ironic that, often, the tangible results of psychogeographic experiences are highly curated, like the maps at biomapping.net.