PSYCHOGEOGRAPHIC MAPS

Although I had many other ideas about what type of project to do at White Mountain Research Center, when I realized the importance of maps and navigation to the majority of the other works I decided to disregard the technology and use my inherant senses. This project was inspired by Guy Debord and his theories about psychogeography. He stated that "Psychogeography could set for itself the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, whether consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals. The charmingly vague adjective psychogeographical can be applied to the findings arrived at by this type of investigation, to their influence on human feelings, and more generally to any situation or conduct that seems to reflect the same spirit of discovery." Thus, I embarked on a psychogeographic investigation of the nearby landscape to WMRS. I wanted to explore what types of maps could be made without a gps device or even a compass. I also wanted to map the effects of the environment on me and my behavior. The result was quite interesting because I was hiking alone and was not sure what anyone could map out in the middle of nowhere. I began to map the obvious, the most abundant things to map in the wilderness were the trees. I found myself begin to categorize them, paying the most attention to unusual forms. I photographed and cataloged all of the trees that I felt looked spooky. During my hike, I also decided to use a videocamera to document my experience. On video I cataloged more spooky trees, as well as the few chipmunks that stood still long enough. There were also some large fire ants that I watched and taped. Being alone in the wilderness made me very observant. Eventually I found some other hikers to observe from afar. I was in an area near several other hikers that had no idea I was filming so I was able to catalog them in a similar way as the chipmunks and ants.

PHOTO COLLAGE MAPS

Coming soon!

SARAH MCCLELLAND

Sarah McClelland is a new media artist born in Orange County and currently residing in San Diego. Always interested in fine art, she began her creative endeavors drawing and painting. In the Fall of 2003 she studied in Florence, Italy for a semester which greatly influenced her work. She is currently in the undergraduate program at UCSD studying Visual Arts Media with an emphasis in computing. She also has experience with photography, installation, film, and new media. Recently, she screened her first documentary "On the Edge of the Internal Fringe: GPS EXPO 2006, Wendover Utah" at the UC Berkeley Museum of Art and Pacific Film Archive for the UCIRA conference. The film in its entirety can be downloaded for free CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE COPY!