Psychogeographical Project (Group Work)

View Trip To High Cross, Whilst playing the 'Do you know them' game. in a larger map 


We played a game called, 'Do you know them?' This involves you to ask your opponent a series of question relating to how they know a random person you've pointed out in the public.

The Theory:
I've taken a theory from Guy Debord's book 'Bureau of Public Secrets'; "One of the basic situationist practices is the dérive,(1) a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiences. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll.

In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones." So in summary, he is saying that every individual gives their own meaning and emotion to what architecture they see around them.

With our project, we decided to take photos which fits in with our game but at the same time encompasses Debords theory and shows specific land marks, so we know where we were. This will then help us mark ourselves down on google maps, which was used on my phone. This is what we did:

What my group and I decided to do was to create a route using Google Maps, and take a SLR digital camera with us and take photos of random people and play the questions game (explained below) and following the rules. The Map above shows the route, and the people with the questions and answers if you hover over the marked icons with your cursor. We played the game until we reached high cross, and decided to continue the game in high cross only to be told that we were not allowed to take any photographs inside. We were also told that any photos that were taken inside are to be posted on the web, we would then get into trouble. So we didn't add any photos from inside high cross, which is a shame because they were hilarious.

Rules for 'The Random Questions Game:
1. Question 1 must me 'Do you know them' and your opponent must answer 'Yes.'

2. Question 2 must be 'What's his/her name?'

3. Then you can ask a series of questions which help justify if your opponent does 'know' them.

To gain a point, your opponent must not hesitate or take too long to answer.
Once you have asked one question, it will be your opponents turn to ask one and then it will switch back to you.

Final Rule:
You must make sure you swap genders each go. So you will be asked questions about a male, then female then male ect.