the flâneur in contemporary society with special reference to the work of francis alÿs

195 Pages·2011·9.44 MB·English

by  Mc Feen

THE FLÂNEUR IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK OF FRANCIS ALŸS

by

ESTELLE McDOWALL

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the
MASTER OF ARTS degree in VISUAL STUDIES

in the
DEPARTMENT OF VISUAL ARTS

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA

DATE: 30 APRIL 2011

Supervisor: Prof Elfriede Dreyer

This dissertation is subject to regulation G.35 of the University of Pretoria and may in no
circumstances be reproduced as a whole or in part without written consent of this University.
©© UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPrreettoorriiaa
Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor, Professor Elfriede Dreyer, for her
expert guidance, time and encouragement and above all, her confidence in me.
Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge with me and for leading me in this
endeavour.

I wish to extend my appreciation to the staff at the Merensky library, especially
Interlending Services, who always made the study material I requested
available.

The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards
this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions
arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the
NRF.

To Estie Serfontein, your words of encouragement have convinced me to
continue on many occasions. Thank you.

Finally I would like to thank Steyn McDowall for his unwavering support and
belief in me.

i
Summary

The contemporary flâneur is confronted with a radically different world in
comparison to the Parisian arcades of the nineteenth century during which the
idea of the flâneur was conceptualised. The current urban milieu of the flâneur
is dominated by consumerism, computer systems and surveillance, and the
research posed here explores the flâneur within this environment. The flâneur
was originally visualised on the streets and arcades of the city; however, cities
do not only exist as buildings and streets and have become global entities that
are constituted from the physical and the virtual. Throughout this study
reference is primarily made to the work of Francis Alÿs to elucidate theoretical
concepts.

This study proposes that there is an absence of the teleological goal in the
journey of the flâneur and as such, the flâneur wanders the streets without aim;
however, in the process creates narratives and leaves traces of his journey. The
ubiquity of surveillance in the contemporary metropolis complicates the flâneur‟s
relationship with the latter. Consequently the impact of surveillance on the
flâneur and the flâneur‟s daily wanderings are examined to ascertain its
influence on the flâneur in a hyperreal society.

In contemporary thinking, the traditional idea of the male flâneur requires
reassessment and this research investigates the possibility of the female flâneur
and women‟s presence in the public spaces of the city and the virtual realm of
cyberspace. Furthermore, women are intricately linked to consumerism and
their experience and position in the city are influenced by being seen as objects
of the gaze.

Alienation; City; Consumer society; Cyberspace; Dérive; Desire; Duplication;
Experience; Flânerie; Flâneur; Flâneuse; Fragmentation; Gaze; Gender;
Virtualisation; Ludic behaviour; Metropolis; Nostalgia; Outsider; Sisyphean;
Sisyphus; Surveillance; Surveillant assemblage; Teleology.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Space ....................................................................................................... 1
1.2. The city..................................................................................................... 4
1.3. The flâneur ............................................................................................... 7
1.3.1. Origin of the concept of the flâneur .................................................... 8
1.3.2. The contemporary flâneur ................................................................ 10
1.4. Francis Alÿs ............................................................................................ 14
1.5. Need and aims of the study.................................................................... 17
1.6. Methodology and theoretical approach .................................................. 19
1.7. Literature review ..................................................................................... 21
1.8. Overview of chapters ............................................................................. 24

CHAPTER 2: TRAVEL WITHOUT A GOAL .................................................... 27
Introduction ................................................................................................... 27
2.1. Teleology................................................................................................ 29
2.1.1. Physical travel .................................................................................. 30
2.1.2. Roaming cyberspace ....................................................................... 34
2.1.3. The Sisyphean quest ....................................................................... 36
2.2. Walking .................................................................................................. 42
2.2.1. Walking narratives ........................................................................... 42
2.2.2. Drawing maps .................................................................................. 45
2.2.3. Bearing traces .................................................................................. 48
2.2.4. The anonymous walker .................................................................... 50
2.3. The city................................................................................................... 52
2.3.1. Desire in the city .............................................................................. 53
2.3.2. Fear ................................................................................................. 58
2.3.3. Absence ........................................................................................... 64
2.4. Ludic behaviour ...................................................................................... 69
2.4.1. Play .................................................................................................. 70
2.4.2. Dérive .............................................................................................. 72
2.4.3. Chance ............................................................................................ 75
iii
Concluding remarks ...................................................................................... 77

CHAPTER 3: SURVEILLANCE ....................................................................... 78
Introduction ................................................................................................... 79
3.1. Spaces ................................................................................................... 80
3.1.1. The street ......................................................................................... 81
3.1.2. Cyberspace ...................................................................................... 85
3.1.3. Virtualisation .................................................................................... 87
3.1.4. The Sisyphus effect ......................................................................... 93
3.2. The surveillant gaze ............................................................................... 95
3.2.1. The surveyor .................................................................................... 97
3.2.2. The surveyed ................................................................................. 103
3.2.3. The outsider ................................................................................... 108
3.3. Experience ........................................................................................... 111
3.3.1. Duplication ..................................................................................... 112
3.3.2. Disembodiment .............................................................................. 117
3.3.3. Fragmentation ................................................................................ 120
3.3.4. Alienation ....................................................................................... 124
Concluding remarks .................................................................................... 126

CHAPTER 4: WOMEN AND THE CITY ......................................................... 127
Introduction ................................................................................................. 127
4.1. The street and other paths ................................................................... 130
4.1.1. Women on the street ...................................................................... 131
4.1.2. The mall ......................................................................................... 135
4.1.3. Women in cyberspace ................................................................... 137
4.2. Women in the city ................................................................................. 139
4.2.1. The female flâneur ......................................................................... 140
4.2.2. The prostitute ................................................................................. 144
4.2.3. A female Sisyphus ......................................................................... 148
4.3. Experience ........................................................................................... 152
4.3.1. The gaze ........................................................................................ 153
4.3.2. Object of desire .............................................................................. 155
4.3.3. Nostalgia ........................................................................................ 158
Concluding remarks .................................................................................... 162

iv
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ......................................................................... 163
5.1. Summary of chapters ........................................................................... 163
5.2. Contribution .......................................................................................... 167
5.3. Limitations ............................................................................................ 167
5.4. Suggestions ......................................................................................... 168
5.5. In closing .............................................................................................. 170

SOURCES CONSULTED .............................................................................. 173

v
LIST OF FIGURES
Page

Figure 1: Francis Alÿs, The collector, 1990-1992. ............................................ 31
Figure 2: Francis Alÿs, The collector, 1990-1992. ............................................ 31
Figure 3: Francis Alÿs, Los Zapatos Magneticos (Magnetic shoes), 1994........ 32
Figure 4: Francis Alÿs, Doppelgänger, 1999-present. ...................................... 33
Figure 5: Francis Alÿs, Paradox of praxis 1, 1997. ........................................... 37
Figure 6: Francis Alÿs, Rehearsal 1, 1999-2001. ............................................. 39
Figure 7: Francis Alÿs, Preparatory sketch for Rehearsal I, 1999 – 2001......... 40
Figure 8: Francis Alÿs, When faith moves mountains, 2002. ............................ 40
Figure 9: Francis Alÿs, Fairy tales, 1995/1998. ................................................ 44
Figure 10: Francis Alÿs, The leak, 1995. .......................................................... 45
Figure 11: Francis Alÿs, The green line, 2004. ................................................. 46
Figure 12: Map of Palestine on which Alÿs based his performance The green
line. ................................................................................................................... 47
Figure 13: Steven Cohen, Golgotha, Wall Street #1 N.Y., 2007. ...................... 48
Figure 14: Sabelo Mlangeni, Hidden identity, 2006. ......................................... 51
Figure 15: Francis Alÿs, The seven lives of garbage, 1995. ............................. 54
Figure 16: Francis Alÿs, The seven lives of garbage, 1995. ............................. 54
Figure 17: Francis Alÿs, The swap, 1995. ........................................................ 56
Figure 18: Francis Alÿs, Barrenderos (Sweepers), 2004. ................................. 57
Figure 19: Sabelo Mlangeni, Lucky escape, 2006. ........................................... 59
Figure 20: Sabelo Mlangeni, Clocking off I, 2006. ............................................ 60
Figure 21: Sabelo Mlangeni, Clocking off II, 2006. ........................................... 60
Figure 22: Sabelo Mlangeni, Clocking off III, 2006. .......................................... 60
Figure 23: Francis Alÿs, Gringo, 2003. ............................................................. 62
Figure 24: Francis Alÿs, Re-enactments, 2000. ................................................ 63
Figure 25: Francis Alÿs, Narcotourism, 1996. ................................................... 65
Figure 26: Francis Alÿs, Turista, 1994. ............................................................. 66
Figure 27: Dale Yudelman, Cyril from i am ..., 2008. ........................................ 67
Figure 28: Dale Yudelman, Edward from i am ..., 2008. ................................... 67
Figure 29: Sabelo Mlangeni, Invisible woman I, 2006. ..................................... 68
Figure 30: Sabelo Mlangeni, Invisible woman II, 2006. .................................... 68
Figure 31: Sabelo Mlangeni, Invisible woman III, 2006. ................................... 69
Figure 32: Francis Alÿs, If you are a typical spectator, what you are really doing
is waiting for the accident to happen, 1996. ..................................................... 71
Figure 33: Francis Alÿs, Milky way, 1995. ........................................................ 74
Figure 34: Francis Alÿs, Duett, 1999. ............................................................... 76
Figure 35: Titus Matiyane, Atteridgeville (detail), 1990. .................................... 82
Figure 36: Francis Alÿs, Sleepers, 1999-2006. ................................................. 84
Figure 37: Minnette Vári, Cyclops, 2004........................................................... 86
Figure 38: Minnette Vári, Installation view of Cyclops, 2004. ........................... 87
Figure 39: Francis Alÿs, The loop, 1997. .......................................................... 89
Figure 40: Francis Alÿs, The loop, 1997. .......................................................... 90
Figure 41: Titus Matiyane, New York – Manhattan (detail), 2002 ..................... 91
Figure 42: Titus Matiyane, Panorama of Gauteng (detail), 2010. ..................... 92
Figure 43: Titus Matiyane, Panorama of London (detail), 1999 ........................ 92
Figure 44: Titus Matiyane, Panorama of the Netherlands (detail), 2000........... 93
vi
Figure 45: Francis Alÿs, Walking a painting, 2002. ........................................... 95
Figure 46: Francis Alÿs, Zócalo, 1999. ............................................................. 98
Figure 47: Francis Alÿs, Zócalo, 1999. ............................................................. 99
Figure 48: Francis Alÿs, Looking up, 2001. .................................................... 100
Figure 49: Francis Alÿs, Choques, 2005......................................................... 101
Figure 50: Francis Alÿs, Vivienda para Todos (Housing for all), 1994. ........... 103
Figure 51: Francis Alÿs, The nightwatch, 2004. .............................................. 104
Figure 52: Francis Alÿs, The nightwatch, 2004. .............................................. 105
Figure 53: Francis Alÿs, Beggars, 2001 – present. ......................................... 106
Figure 54: Francis Alÿs, Guards, 2004-2005. ................................................. 107
Figure 55: Francis Alÿs, La Malinche, 1997. ................................................... 110
Figure 56: Francis Alÿs, Sign-painters project (Rotulistas), 1993 – 1997. ...... 114
Figure 57: Francis Alÿs, Studio installation of three copies of The liar / The copy
of the liar (1997). ............................................................................................ 115
Figure 58: Francis Alÿs, Déjà vu, 1996 – present. .......................................... 116
Figure 59: Minnette Vári, Riverrun, 2004. ....................................................... 119
Figure 60: Minnette Vári, Installation view of Riverrun, 2004.......................... 120
Figure 61: Vuyisa Nyamende, Random footage, 2004. .................................. 122
Figure 62: Francis Alÿs, As long as I’m walking, 1992. .................................. 123
Figure 63: Francis Alÿs, Cantos Patrióticos (Patriotic songs), 1998 – 1999. .. 125
Figure 64: Bridget Baker, The blue collar girl (New Delhi), 2005. ................... 133
Figure 65: Francis Alÿs, Ambulantes (Pushing and pulling), 1992 – present.. 134
Figure 66: Merry Alpern, Shopping #16, 1999. ............................................... 136
Figure 67: Minnette Vári, The calling, 2003. ................................................... 138
Figure 68: Dineo Bopape, Dreamweaver, 2008. ............................................ 142
Figure 69: Usha Seejarim, Eight to four, 2001. ............................................... 143
Figure 70: Tracy Payne, Coastal resort, 1996. ............................................... 145
Figure 71: Francis Alÿs, Rehearsal 2, 2001-2006. ......................................... 147
Figure 72: Berni Searle, Approach, 2006. ...................................................... 149
Figure 73: Berni Searle, Approach (details), 2006. ......................................... 149
Figure 74: Bridget Baker. The blue collar girl (Cape Town), 2004. ................. 151
Figure 75: Bridget Baker. The blue collar girl (Gent), 2004. ........................... 151
Figure 76: Bridget Baker, The blue collar girl (Maputo), 2005. ....................... 151
Figure 77: Bridget Baker, The blue collar girl (Valais), 2006-7. ...................... 151
Figure 78: Celia de Villiers, Post-human consumerism, 2009. ....................... 156
Figure 79: Minnette Vári, Aurora australis, 2001. ........................................... 158
Figure 80: Senzeni Marasela, Theodora goes to Johannesburg .................... 159
Figure 81: Karin Preller, Brixton 2, 2010......................................................... 161
Figure 82: Karin Preller, Brixton 5, 2010......................................................... 161
Figure 83: Karin Preller, Montgomery park I, 2010. ........................................ 162
vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The figure of the flâneur is an integral part of any metropolitan area and needs
to be revisited as he1 is faced with new impressions and experiences in the
contemporary city. Flânerie2 as an activity of strolling and looking carried out by
the flâneur, is a persistent motif in literature, sociology and art concerned with
urban and specifically metropolitan existence (Tester 1994:1). The flâneur and
urban space are in a symbiotic relationship with each other as both generate
meaning from each other. The flâneur becomes an important figure in the urban
milieu as this is his habitat. According to Michel de Certeau (1984:117), “[s]pace
occurs as the effect produced by the operations that orient it, situate it,
temporalise it, and make it function in a polyvalent unity of conflictual programs
or contractual proximities. Thus the street geometrically defined by urban
planning is transformed into space by walkers.” Furthermore one can say that
“space is like a word when it is spoken – dependent on context, time and use”
(De Certeau 1984:117).

1.1. Space

Space is seen as a moment in the intersection of the arrangement of social
relations, resulting in a certain dynamic, articulated by Doreen Massey
(1994:265) as a complex network of “relations of domination and subordination,
of solidarity and co-operation.” The very social relations that define space are
not static by nature and as such, space is full of power and symbolism, since it

1 Baudelaire envisages the flâneur as male in his writings and Benjamin continues in this
tradition (Tester 1994:2). According to Dreyer (2005:5), the flâneur is “less gender-specific and
more diversely applied” since the second half of the twentieth century. For the purpose of this
study the term flâneur is used as a generic and genderless term, unless where gender is the
theme of the discussion. However, I continue the use of the pronoun he and his, as the
continued gender inclusion of he / she and his / her or avoiding gender with it and its lead to
awkward reading. Therefore, Chapter one, two and three generally use the male form of
address, whereas in Chapter four the flâneur is specifically identified as being male or female.
2 Flânerie as activity is more than just strolling and according to Rob Shields (1994:65), it “is
more specific than strolling. It is a spatial practice of specific sites: the interior and exterior public
spaces of the city.”
1
is theorised as a result of social relations (Massey 1994:265). Space needs to
be conceptualised as being composed of interrelations, “as the simultaneous
coexistence of social interrelation and interactions at all spatial scales, from the
most local level to the most global” (Massey 1994:264).

Space is defined in terms of what time is not. Time is paralleled with the
concepts of progress, civilization, science and reason, whereas space is aligned
with stasis, reproduction, nostalgia, emotions and the body. However, the static
nature of space as being subordinate to time as the privileged signifier is
questioned in the contemporary era of capital accumulation, specifically
commodification, and digitalisation (Harvey 1993:7). For Edward Soja
(1996:2,3), the “spatiality of human life” has become an important facet as a
“third existential dimension” in the traditional coupling of historicality and
sociality. Space consists of the physical, the mental and the social and for this
reason social relations are fundamental in the production of space (Lefebvre
2002:133).

The Western intellectual tradition of separating body and mind, nature and
culture, reason and emotion is integral in repudiating the importance and
integrity of emotional experience (Burns 2000:69). These dichotomies result in
that experience is located in the realm of urban spaces, where it is associated
with femininity and irrationality as the hierarchy establishes a supremacy of
reason (Burns 2000:69). The symbolic gendering of space has an effect on and
reflects the manner in which gender is constructed and understood in a specific
society. For instance, places of consumption are usually seen as feminine and
places of business as masculine (Van Eeden 2006:64).

The perception of space in contemporary times has changed from the modern
view that space is quantifiable, indifferent and impersonal and for Heidegger
(1971:165) “[p]lace is the locale of the truth of Being” (Bauman 1998:32).
„Space‟ is created out of the vast intricacies, the incredible complexities, of the
interlocking and the non-interlocking, and the networks of relations at every
scale from local to global. The spatial organization of a society is not merely the
result of the social but is integral to the production of the social (Massey
2