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Emerging Topologies Emerging Topologies Tours and Maps of Augmented Space Joshua Harle A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts Faculty of Fine Arts, University of New South ales This research was supported under an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with the Emergency Information Coordination Unit of the Land and Property anagement Authority! "#$! as part of Real%time Porosity& Abstract Under the title 'Emerging Topologies(! this thesis draws together theories conceptualising space ) ichel de Certeau*s tactical and strategic+ and theories spatialisating concepts )Gilles ,eleu-e and .eli/ Guattari's machinic assemblages+ in order to e/amine our contemporary e/periences of the city *augmented' 0y digital technology& This thesis e/plores how de1elopments in% and public adoption of% mapping! na1igation! and documentation technology are leading to the emergence of new topological connections 0etween people! technology! and en1ironment! resulting in an e1eryday spatial practice that increasingly inhabits digital! 1irtual space& 2irtual space has 0een characterised 1ariously as oppressi1e! emancipating! or degrees of 0oth )Grozs! #hields! 3araway+& This thesis argues that 1irtual space is a 'real* space in its own right )politically! socially! phenomenologically) and that despite its rigid organisation! propositional logic! and digital representation! it pro1ides a strategic territory 4ust as open to tactical inhabitation as the con1entional built en1ironment& 5uilding on the author*s training as a computer scientist and artist! software was de1eloped to map! scan! and 1isualise physical space! and 1irtual en1ironments were created and e/plored as potential sites for both poetic! creati1e e/pression and rationalisation! digitising! and ordering of space& The emerging topologies of body-technology-en1ironment! as formations of new machinic assemblages! can dramatically disrupt the landscape around them but 6 as Abstract v this thesis demonstrates 6 they may not remain 'in flight* for long& Tours solidify into maps& Early e/periments into mapping tactical spatial practices offered 1aluable insight into the ease with which 1irtual space can be reterritorialised7 my first attempt at an engagement with local graffiti practice )authoring a public! real%time map of graffiti using Google aps+ became mobilised against it! facilitating the logistical work of council clean%up crews& 3owe1er! occasionally practices can remain temporarily autonomous from strategic control! tracing alternati1e! speculati1e spaces& I demonstrate that while the tactical practices of e1eryday life are being increasingly mapped, it is always possible to make poetic 4ourneys across the mapped territory! whether city! 1irtual en1ironment! or te/t& Abstract vi Contents A0stract 1ii Acknowledgements /i Preface /ii .oreword /1ii 8 Introduction 8 I Maps 25 9 Territories 9: ; Ubi<uitous #pace =; = The Right to the ).ragmented+ City >> II Tours 5 > Illegible #paces ?: ? Playgrounds @; : Atmospheres AA III !or"s #2# @ Paths 89; A 3erein 8;> 8B Relics 8>8 88 onorail Pylons 8?; 89 Gamespaces 8:> $I Emergence #%& 8; Taking .light 9B: 8= Emergency! 8@> Appendi/ A7 A Ta/onomy of #patial Practices 98A 5ibliography 99: Ackno'ledgements The last four years has been <uite an incredible 4ourney! I'd like to acknowledge my super1isors! Prof& Richard Goodwin and Russell Lowe! for making this whole Ph, possible and remaining the two most interesting academics I*1e e1er met& any thanks are due to my friends! who ha1e 1ariously distracted, supported, inspired and moti1ated me& In particular I'm indebted to Tully Arnot! Peter "elson! Andrew "ewman for their thoughts! 3ayden ,aley! for his company on urban e/ploration 4aunts! elody $illiams! for advice! formatting and referencing help well beyond the line of duty! #arah Duyang! for cupcakes! and Ro0ynne 3enry for gin%inspired proof%reads& .inally! my thanks go to my family! and especially my mother! Rosie! for being forthcoming with both appropriate theoretical connections and boundless enthusiasm& Acknowledgements xii )reface A Ph, thesis is a process of mapping new territory& A gap in the knowledge of a certain field is identified! and the researcher sets about e/ploring and illuminating their own little place within itE documenting 'the frontier regions(8 and replacing the fearsome dragons for landmarks& The te/tual component of a studio%based .ine Art Ph, is usually seen as a documentation of the art practice and a discussion of theory! i&e& a map of the works* theoretical and artistic conte/t! an illustration of where the works themsel1es sit within this conte/t! and a comforting indication that 'you are here*& This particular thesis is looking at the practice of map%making itself& It e/amines descriptions of space through the drafting of maps and models! and how these afford different perceptions of a territory and an inhabitant's place in it& It argues that the landscape of the city is constantly changing through the emergence of new relationships between body! en1ironment! and technology 6 spaces opened up or closed off through the shifted boundaries of different types of map& The thesis starts from ichel de Certeau's argument that something is lost in the abstraction of the world into a static map! and that the represented, intended use of a space is pri1ileged o1er the changing ways it is actually inhabited. It reads de Certeau's description of strategic and tactical practice of space through Gilles ,eleu-e's discussion of concepts in order to criti<ue how established maps )of cities! countries! ideas! bodies+ restrict our potential! and how they can be disrupted and " #ichel de $erteau, %he Practice of &veryday 'ife, trans( Steven )endall*+er!eley, University of California Press, 2..-/, 201( Preface xiii reformed through e1eryday creati1e practices& This thesis is a form of *Gon-o research*& Informed 0y the di1erse strategic and tactical opportunities for thinking a0out a territory! this thesis approaches its *o04ect of research* with the intimacy of a nati1e inhabitant rather than the distance of a supposedly impartial obser1er& The works that constitute the thesis are not the result of a single mapping process 6 an attempt at an o1erarching! simplified description of the territory at a moment in time 6 but rather a set of 4ourneys through space! accompanied 0y roughly sketched-out directions& Like the Gon-o style of 4ournalism championed 0y 3unter #& Thompson! it sends the researcher in drunk! writing poetic 'reports from the field' in first%person to gi1e an unashamedly su04ecti1e 1iew of things& .ield-notes from my topological e/plorations are wo1en into the te/ts7 postcards from spaces of sur1eillance! data mining! mobile phones! CCT2! ;, scanners! ubi<uitous computing! parkour! s<uatting! graffiti& The embedded researcher following a proud lineage 6 Raul ,uke! #pider Ferusalem! 3akim 5ey& In this respect the thesis shares its methodology with fictocriticism! an approach to writing within the 3umanities which departs from the traditional use of an o04ecti1e! authoritati1e 1oice in argumentation& .ictocriticism is tactical rather than strategic& The author is not positioned outside of the territory they are discussing7 they speak from 'on the ground'! and acknowledge that their 1iewpoint! e/periences! and associations colour their obser1ations& .ictocriticsm has 0een utilised 0y contemporary anthropologists )#ariola! ,ouglas% Fones! uecke! Latour+ as a way of a1oiding the o1ersimplification of the map& Taking inspiration from 5runo Latour*s 'Compositionism(!9 it proposes a critical style that attempts to build pragmatic accounts of the world e1aluated not on the basis of truth 1ersus fiction! but )since all arguments must 0e constructed in one way or another+ on how well constructed they are&; The status of one account as 'better composed' than another is decided 0y what they can accomplish7 the strategic map is not 'untrue*! but is less reliable or helpful for understanding the territory it describes on anything other than an imposed structural le1el! i&e& it does not help disco1er new connections& - Stephen #uec!e, 2#otorcycles, Snails, 'atour, $riticism without 3udgement,2 $ultural Studies Review 10, no. 1 (-.""/, 5.( 5 +runo 'atour, 2An Attempt at a" $ompositionist #anifesto",2 New 'iterary 6istory 1", no( 5 (-."./, 470( Preface xiv $here strategic maps present static! reducti1e models )representing place without time and pri1ileging certain details! connections! and causes o1er others=+! fictocriticism attempts to maintain the 1itality and richness of descriptions through compositions that are tentati1e! e/perimental! and which try to preser1e relationships no matter how subtle or holistic& These compositions are open to 'ceaselessly GestablishH connections between semiotic chains! organizations of power! and circumstances(&> In comparison to neat! ordered, and stable maps of a territory! fictocritical accounts are more like ,eleu-e's description of rhi-omes7 'always detachable! connectable! re1ersible! modifiable! and GwithH multiple entryways and e/its(E? interconnected tap%root topologies where each point can connect to any other& They are not afraid to take note of connections between disparate ways of describing the world: Dur reports 'from the field' try not to be reductions to one le1el of reality[&&&H! but reports that en1elope the poetry! the sensorium! the history! the mythology and the politics& The whole damn culture in other words&: 5oth rhi-omes and
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