For my psycho-geography project I decided have three of my volunteers to walk from one destination to another. Starting at the same spot and ending up in the same destination.
Having looked at how other projects had been presented, I decided to present mine through an artistic visual. i intended to get a copy of the map and draw a line along the streets on my paper map following my volunteers one at a time taking note of what routes they decided to take to get to the same destination.
I will then take that sketch and and create a copy without the mapped background to create a line drawing inspired by an online blog: http://mylibs.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/psychogeography-daniel-rogers/
My first starting point was picking 3 volunteers to take part in the project. Next I chose the starting and finishing point I wanted each of my volunteers to walk from. The starting point I chose was my accomdation 'Filbert Village' and the finishing point was Highcross shopping centre by the clock tower. I then asked each candidate to do their research and find out how to get to the destination in the quickest time. I printed the map three times so I was able to take note and draw along the map paying attention to the roads and turnings each of my candidates took.
My Results For Each Candidate
Candidate 1.
[insert image]
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| Candidate 1 |
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| Candidate 2 |
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| Candidate 3 |
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| Candidate 1, 2 & 3 |
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| Candidate 1, 2 & 3 |
The last two diagrams about show the common routes which the three different candidates took or similar nearby areas. Candidate 2 got to the destination the quickest and Candidate 1 took the longest. At the end of the experiment I asked my three volunteers how they got round to finding their way from their student accommodation (filbert village) during the beginning of the year when they had moved in.
Heres what they had to say:
Candidate 1
'I had to find my own way around just by asking questions and asking people on the streets as I walked along or people at my accommodation reception'
Candidate 2
'I already had friends and family that attended the same university so they showed me quick routes to certain places especially town'
Candidate 3
'I looked online on google maps and used my phone app which seemed to help me'
Looking at each response candidate 2 already had access to primary sources which were friends and family which know the town of Leicester well giving candidate 1 access to shorter routes. On the other had candidate 3 had to provide themselves with secondary research which is a reliable source and due to narrowing her search she properly had access to possible short cuts, but as she was new to the area at the time it was sensible for her to take the route the displayed on the map. Candidate 1 had access to poor resources as she would find people as she went alone. The problem with this is that the people she may have asked may not have been familiar with Leicester or had lived in the area to know. False directions could have also been given.
I am personally surprised that the candidate that used their phone and the internet didn't make the fastest time. This shows that manual sources such as conversation and verbal interaction can sometimes be more reliable than technology in certain situations.
