"Place-hacking" is a phemonena that entials reclaiming space by entering 'restricted' places. It was popularized in the book Explore Everything: Place Hacking and the City written by cultural geographer Bradley Garrett. In the Russell Brand podcast (linked below), Garrett says that "the idea is that the world is a closed system and in order to get behind the code, the underbelly of this system, you have to find a little loophole and you've got to exploit it. So that's the hack." To me, "Place-hacking" combines two major themes that we have discussed throughout the course. The first being the "Occupy" movement and the idea of reclaiming the right to occupy space and the power that comes with that right. The second being the City (in Garrett's case, London) witholding access to public space by loading its people with what Garrett calls "social conditioning." He says "we are carrying around all of this social conditioning in our bodies all day long and we don't realize how we censor ourselves and what we're finding is when you cross over that boundary, all of a sudden that social conditioning breaks open. You find yourself able to think about the world in a different way and to do things you wouldn't normally do and that is what the hack is all about." So, "the hack" is more than reckless trespassing but involves reclaiming a physical space in order to access "censored" parts of ourselves. Garrett claims to have climbed up every major construction site in London, including the Shard. He assures that he "would never trespass into a residential structure." Insisting that the project is about "hacking public infrastructure and at times corporate infrastructure." But he claims that sometimes, place-hacking brings you to true beauty. He describes being in North Wales and finding a quarry, filled with cars that the council had dumped there in the 1970s. "We got to the bottom the quarry and there was a lake down there, crystal blue, and there were about two dozen cars piled up inside the lake reaching toward this sunbeam that was breaking though the ceiling."
"The Kingdom of Heaven is spread out over the Earth and men do not see it." -- Gospel of Thomas Saying 113
Courtesy of Google Images.
The Place-Hacking blog
Russell Brand podcast with an interview with Bradley Garrett
If you want to know more about the limits of freedom in terms of "censorship," I recommend this video of Slavok Zizek talking about freedom today:
I really love this idea. Its really interesting to think about the social restrictions we just take for granted, and the restriction of movement strikes me as one of the most important to remain aware of, and one of the slipperiest slopes. While there are good reasons for the restrictions of many spaces (serious safety concerns, fragile machinery, etc.) I think we have to be very careful about simply accepting groups and governments abilities to regulate space. For example, I see vagrancy laws as a gross appropriation and domination of space that has been largely normalized in the eyes of the general populace. When you really stop and think about it, it's absurd that it can be made illegal for humans to occupy public spaces such as parks and streets at certain times and if they fall into certain categories. Especially considering the fact that these laws target people who already have no homes to be, essentially making their overall presence illegal if they don't have the money to "buy into" the residence system. When you really break it down, this means that you have to pay simply to be allowed to occupy space on OUR planet.
ReplyDeleteSophie-
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Firstly, +200000 points for Slavoj! ha.
Secondly, I love this idea. I recently wrote the beginnings of a short memoir piece about being a kid in the suburbs and my memories of sneaking out with friends at night to travel the town. We rarely actually DID a whole lot, minor mischief excused, but we did do a lot of foot traveling through the city. We utilized these paths and trails through town that no one ever used, like travelling behind fences and in easements and canyons between housing tracts and such. I remember it being really fun and exciting as a kid and feeling like there was no reason for us NOT to be there.
I feel like this is very similar to the concept of the 'commons,' which has been around a really long time and I believe was the basis for much of 'Occupy.' I think in cities and suburbs it is particularly relevant when we consider the politics of the citizen's right-of-way (as Adin seems to be doing ^) and the practical use of public, taxed spaces. Like, do we really need lots of strips of grass and non-native trees in California, or would we rather use that space (and water) for a garden? Anyways, I could talk about this for hours. Great post!