Breathing Spaces

The article which I chose is "Walking as a Do-It-Yourself Urbanism" by Kenny Cupers.  I chose this article because I found the idea of "breathing in spaces" of the city interesting.  Postcards in London are distributed throughout the city and on these postcards are different "spaces" such as buses, the subway, phone booths, coffee shops and internet cafes.  The finder of the postcard is invited to explore these different places.  I think the city is an interesting place to explore in general.  There is much one can learn by walking through it.  I accomplished my Drift 2 sound walk in the city and felt that these ideas applied to me.  

One of the main points of this article is seeing how walking can transform urban space.  The presence of moving bodies can transform the urban environment for the walkers themselves.  Cupers touches upon the idea that the city is a place of a "fluid space of change and creation".  There has been a dichotomy of "the planners" as creators of the city and "the people" as the users.   The city can be seen as a place that is governed by rational urban planning or a place of alienation and darkness.  It can be seen as a space which is out of control.  

The ideas are relevant to me as a media artist because they show me that I should take advantage of my surroundings and explore them.  I should find ways to be creative with the environment and find these breathing spaces in the city.  There is a lot I can learn from this experience.