Introducing the Psy-Geo Provflux
Welcome to the first annual Psy-Geo Provflux, a two day event investigating how the urban landscape in Providence affects its social and artistic community. One part conference, and two part experimentation, the Provflux will include public space reclamations, maps, 24 hour workshops, and lectures in an effort to discover the unseen in the Renaissance city.
Also making its debut at this Provflux is Crosswalk, a quarterly dedicated to further investigations of contemporary psychogeography and experimental public art. Through Crosswalk and Provflux ’04, we hope to create new collaboration between groups and individuals working with and interpreting the urban fabric of Providence. One map of the city is not enough, we must all make our own maps, collaborating with others to bring our thoughts into action and our theory into practice. The Provflux will provide a temporary space where groups can gather, exchange ideas, and push art further into the everyday. From the whimsical to the serious, the projects will get people out and about in Providence to contemplate the possibilities that exist around every corner and under each manhole cover.
The city seems to be a mystery, its codes and rituals constantly in flux. As planning and management are further pushed into the realm of the expert, artists must push back to decode these mysteries and become active participants in the life of their city.
So, what would a city of our own making look like? For this brief weekend in May we hope to provide an incomplete picture of a city in celebration of its unending potential. Psychogeography has the ability to provide both a question and an answer for a participatory urban condition. On one hand, it can provide the knowledge of what is, and on the other, the motivation to pursue what could be. We do not need experts or planners to tell us what we should be doing; we need to do it ourselves.
So with this understanding PIPS hopes the Provflux can provide a space where people of all disciplines can recognize their collective potential as a creative force beyond the white box, the firm, and the cubicle. So with that in mind we offer up the Provflux ’04. Have fun, turn off the box, get out, and explore…
for more information on the Psy-Geo Provflux, please visit pipsworks.com/provflux.html
Provflux Curators: Providence Initiative for Psychogeographic Studies (PIPS)
Crosswalk Editor: Meredith Younger
Steelyard Facilitators: David Allyn, Peter Eiermann
Event Organizers: JohnJ McGurk, Joan Wyand, Kerry Adams, Justin Coleman, Erika
Howsare, and Jennifer Tynes
The Psy-Geo Provflux is sponsered by PIPS, the Woonasquatucket Valley Community Build (WVCB).
Special thanks to:
Blair de st. Croix and RISD OSL, Peter Eiermann, Clay Rockefeller, Nick Bauta,
Christina Ray and Dave Mandl (Glowlab),
The Steelyard Crew, Ian Ramsey, J Gabriel Lloyd, Nato Thompson,free103point9,
Elijah Driscoll, Brian Goldberg, Patrick Thompson, Park Press, J Hogue (Art
in Ruins), and all Provflux and Crosswalk contributors…
