Taking Walks

Throughout the reading, De Certeau compares walking, that basic practice of everyday life, to a number of different metaphors - art, paintings, language, stories. The creation of all of these things largely involves the use of tactics (by the artist/speaker - colours, techniques, accents, speech patterns) within a structured space (materials, brushes, canvas or a system of language). In doing so he shows how an action as simple as walking transforms, however momentarily, the space of the city in which we walk.

During our walk, we encountered a bunch of different spaces - East River Road, the mall, Northrop Plaza, the area underneath the Washington Avenue bridge. Some things were clearly placed to delineate "proper" space usage, like crosswalks, sidewalks, traffic lights and road signs; others, like the thick prickly bushes and uneven rocks, felt more atmospheric and coincidental.To me, going through regions with the latter felt more adventurous, more defiant, than simply obeying the "rules" of walking; it might not have happened if more people had been around.

My experiences of simply strolling through campus at midnight also carried a kind of rebellious vibe, simply by occupying the campus spaces at "improper" or "unusual" times. Often as I walk around campus, I'll slow down (or stop entirely and turn back) to observe something more closely, and it's not uncommon to feel judgmental eyes glance away when I resume my journey. It feels almost as though the mere presence of other people is a form of regulation for behavior, some panoptic quality of our surroundings, and walking turns from a creative act into one of passivity and emptiness.

Anyhoo, taking walks will always bring this song to mind: