Having collected initial material on Deptford and the Stephen Lawrence Centre we made a one minute film about Deptford on a Saturday morning, which acts as a call out to participants joining the project.
We started the project with three questions:
How do you get to Deptford?
How do you stay in Deptford?
How do you leave Deptford?
We wanted to pursue these issues through mapping.
Hence our first open event was a Mapping Day at the Stephen Lawrence Centre where the project is based, which included a sensory walk of the David Adjaye designed building.
Following an initial discussion on the terms “space” and “place” where we covered the everyday uses of these words, we introduced the idea and practice of mapping.
“Space” and “Place”
Amanda: It was interesting to see phrases like “give me some space” used by participants, there was a struggle to verbalise notions of space specifically, though there is a greater notion of space that we all feel we inherently know though find it hard to express, I think a phrase like “give me some space” is a very clear example of that.
Rastko: It seemed to me that it was easier for participants to relate to the word “place”, perhaps because it is less abstract. Two words that were linked to it were location, and value.
Mapping
We asked ourselves the questions: What are maps? Who makes them and why? What constitutes a map? What are the uses of a map?
We looked at well known (AZ, Ordinance Survey, Google Earth, architectural plans) as well as less known (emotional, sensory) types of maps.
The exercise allowed participants to begin to look at how they could make their own maps, and that we did not have to rely on official maps, sources or ways of mapping. What was essential to the use of a map was its readability to a group and the act of participation in the making and changing of it.
Sensory Maps
We then took a sensory walk through the Stephen Lawrence Centre, taking photos, sound recordings and video recordings. We used our senses to investigate a number of nearby features: the Ravensbourne river, the Docklands Light Railway, the bike shed, the courtyard (through marching and chanting), the foyer, and (sounds and textures of different surfaces in) the meeting room.
Rastko: It interesting to note that there is a tension between what is recorded and the senses which were part of our experience and informed our decisions in making images and sounds, such as taste, touch and smell. These we can only hint at, report on or describe using images and sounds.
Amanda: The idea of a sensory walk, is an attempt to get us to contemplate our surroundings, and begin the process of observation, it is too easy to dismiss so much around us because we cannot take the time. In using our senses we begin to recount our own experiences within the new sensations that we are apprehending. It is also true to say that the Stephen Lawrence Centre affords the opportunity to understand architecture and architectural practices in terms of the body.
Maps
Having collected and labelled the materials, we constructed 3 sound keyboards, small virtual environments where a photo is paired with a sound recording or piece of music. The effect created is that of a personal map of the Centre which can be “played” by online users to give them a “taste” or “sense” of place. We also discussed the basics of film language and tried ideas out in a group edit of the collected video material. After the fact we finished 2 versions of the film in the form of a report on the group coming in – using/sensing/tasting – leaving the Centre. We also constructed a moving image map of the Centre where the floor plan was dotted with video clips pertaining to the different areas, textures and sounds.
Rastko: Although the choices in pairing images and sounds that participants made when they were making the keyboards were intuitive and personal, the effect of particular places they give is instantly recognisable. In making the films what came to the surface was the emotion and above all the rhythms we fell into and produced during the sensory walk. The films take on the role of a map and guide for those who don’t know the territory, but also hint at the personal experience and those sensations which are created in the gap between the senses of vision and hearing and in their collision.
Amanda: The idea of the sound keyboards came about as part of the organic discussions about how we could map the building. I think because we had some musicians in the group that helped amplify those possibilities of using sound. What is interesting is that combination of sound and image, that has a resonance for the filmmaking process. Perhaps we could have looked at using themes or other parameters for organising the keyboards, but what I think is essential at this point is perhaps creating content for the archive, which we can work through in the process of editing the film pieces.
The next event for Space Place will be a filming event, where we will be documenting and tracing the River Ravensbourne.
