Conflux 2009 in New York

I've yet to attend Conflux, the annual New York City psychogeography festival organized by Glowlab. I used to be really excited about the projects, workshops, and exhibitions, but in the last two or three years the festival program seemed a bit arbitrary, showy, falling short of the possibilities. Of course, anything goes in psychogeography, but that's why psychogeographical projects and performances often come across as rather shallow. I guess I like "anything" best when it's not only playful and adventurous but also concerned with a deeper engagement with (urban) space.

Geoff Nicholson, whose 1997 novel Bleeding London triggered several ideas for both my academic research and creative work, is a seasoned walker and, while skeptical of psychogeography as a concept, practices walking in ways that certainly fit the definition. His non-fiction work The Lost Art of Walking (2008) contains a funny and slightly bemused-sounding review of Conflux 2006. The festival's headquarters have since moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan, but looking at the program, I still wonder why so many projects seem to be riffing off work done by other artists and communities instead of trying to move psychogeography into new directions. (Yes, I know the same can be said about my own work.)

Having said that, I would love to see the Reverend Billy's Breaking into Public Space workshop because of its political agenda. Plus, the man's just a lot of fun.

Reverend Billy: Jacquie Soohen/Conflux 2009