A bad witch's blog: Psychogeography: Art Exhibition at Deptford Creek

Friday 14 March 2014

Psychogeography: Art Exhibition at Deptford Creek

As a pagan and a Londoner, I find the practise of psychogeography is a fascinating way of exploring the landscape of the city in which I live, while the theories about it range from sociological to visionary and occult.

This week a group of 10 artists in Deptford has put on an exhibition of their work called PSYCHO.GEOGRAPHY. I went to view it yesterday, and you can see a few photos I took here. The images at the top and the text that went with them (pictured right) show one artist's impressions of a bus journey. The photo at the bottom is an overview of the exhibition space at Art Hub Gallery, 5-9 Creekside, Deptford.

The description on the exhibition website says: "PSYCHO.GEOGRAPHY invites you to explore our complex relationship with the city we inhabit. The term Psychogeography was formally defined by Guy Debord as: 'the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.(Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography, G. Debord, 1955).'

"While Debord is credited with the commonly accepted definition of Psychogeography within the Situationist framework, its roots go much deeper (D. Defoe, W. Blake, de Quincy, etc.), but more importantly wider – impossible to apprehend and based entirely on personal significance attributed by an individual in interaction with their environment.

"Curated by Marina Potok, the exhibition explores how the rich, fast-paced, sharp-edged reality of city life can shape our experiences, emotions and behaviour or simply slip through our consciousness leaving just a trace of our memory."

The exhibition is small, but entry is free and it is open until Sunday 16 March, from noon to 5pm each day. For full details, visit: http://arthubgallery.squarespace.com/home/2014/2/27/psychogeography.html