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The modern flaneur

a study of the human relationship with smartphones

and the movement it creates

Unseen observation is just another commodity in the global city.

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Mirzoeff, Nicholas. How to See the World: an Introduction to Images, from        Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More. Basic Books, 2016.

Walking is an unconscious way of moving through urban space, enabling us to sense our bodies and the features of the environment. With one foot-after-the other, we flow continuously and rhythmically while traversing urban place.

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(Chen Yi’En, “Telling Stories of the City: Walking Ethnography, Affective Materialities, and Mobile Encounters,” 212)

Milan, Italy + Bologna, Italy + Perugia, Italy + Venice, Italy + Florence, Italy + New York City, USA + Richmond, VA, USA + Lexington, VA, USA

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Walking is the most simplified form of dance. As a dancer and choreographer, I am attuned to the ways in which people move through buildings, on the sidewalk, or down narrow walkways. The wonder of walking is that no moment can be replicated. Each movement is fleeting and forgotten, and often a response to either your physical environment or the people around you. There is beauty not only in walking, but in the way that we view the world while we move and learn with our bodies. This beauty and ability to engage with our environment is often obstructed by technology, and our daily rhythm of movement is dictated by our cell phones. I have spent the past two years observing pedestrians as a flaneur in a few cities across the world. I am an anthropologist who observes the movement of people in the urban landscape. I see masses of people who do not notice me, the notes that I write, or the photos and videos that I take.  The movement that I am most drawn to is that which is dictated by the use of cell phones.  Smartphones act as the all too demanding choreographer in our daily lives. Our physicality is controlled by these small tools; we speed up, slow down, run into others, pause to check them, and constantly use them while we move. I am interested in the way humans interact with these devices which are not objects, but subjects. We do not just carry them around, but interact with them. They give us feedback from the internet, from friends, from work, and it's addictive. There is a cycle that we constantly enter into as we switch between the physical and virtual worlds. This cycle manifests itself physically in predictable, observable movements: in the way one walks texting, makes a call while walking across the street, talks to a friend while checking the screen, and the list continues. The day begins and ends with our devices, it's how many of us wake up in the morning, and what we check before sleeping. 

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Books
In The Press

 

I developed the above model as an anthropology major at Washington and Lee University. It was created from the videos I had taken in New York City and on Washington and Lee's campus in Lexington, VA. I began to interview students and professors to see the reasons why people were always using their phone. After making observations in Italy, I see that the phone usage is the same. The constraints of the device make it so every human uses their phones in most the same way; however, some of the conditions or reasons why individuals use them vary based on the culture. When the physical community or geographic location varies, so does the phone use. Our rhythm of movement is affected each day by your personality, the city you live in, the things you have to do, your job, the people you interact with, the weather, your modes of transportation, the things you carry, and your electronic devices. 

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News and Events

words of the pedestrians

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"It’s like this compulsion and I really try to work against it because I don't want to be always tethered to the phone even though I totally acknowledge that I am.”

Female, Washington and Lee Professor

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There's obviously useful things that the iPhone does. I just think it's definitely a balance. You can get in contact with someone immediately instead of having to find them or send them a letter. But, when I’m just sitting on my phone and scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, that’s not really maintaining relationships... that’s not really doing anything as far as a relationship is concerned.

Male, Washington and Lee Student

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“I'm staring at it while I'm walking between classes which probably isn't so good, because I could run into someone or something.”

Female, Student at Washington and Lee University 

The Progression of Phone Interaction 

documented through observed pedestrian movement

Photos taken from video footage (NYC, 2017)

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Sara Dotterer

Biography

I am an artist, a researcher, and a collaborator who is passionate about turning creative ideas into action. Art is a lens through which I see the world, it governs how I interact with others, and constantly pushes me to question the status quo. I graduated from Washington and Lee in 2018 as an Anthropology and Studio Art Major. At my university, I was the Co-President of the Washington and Lee Repertoire Dance Company and President of Washington and Lee's Student Arts League. The role that dance and studio art play in my life has evolved over my time at W&L– from dancer to choreographer, and painter to advocate for other student artists. 

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I have a curiosity for new places and cultures that has brought me to places all over the world to gain new perspectives.   I received two grants in 2016 to travel to Italy for 3 months to study Italian culture, language, and advertising. For the summer of 2017, I traveled to NYC to intern with the contemporary artist, Taryn Simon, and do my own research on the way that smartphones affect movement in public spaces. In 2018, upon my graduation, I received a grant to continue research on phone use in the public sphere in Bologna, Italy. When I visit a new place, I like to act as a local would, and understand the unique approach to life of a person who lives hundreds of miles away from me. I believe in talking to every person you come across – who knows what they have to offer?

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