Richard Tung
Sebastian Grant
Int. Sem.2 System & Strategies
26 February 2019
Dérive
Spacing out and staring into space, isn’t that something we all do? The lack of focus, just like a unfocused camera lens that has no subject. The idea of Dérive is much so similar, if not, it is the same as photography. We take photos of the landscape or the environment without blurring surrounding objects. As we are on the way attend a gathering, meeting, or a destination in general, we lose focus of what is around us until we arrive; this is very much so identical to how we blur the surrounding environment of the subject of the photo shoot to bring the subject to the foreground. A photographer in a city is often on a Dérive, they walk around, observing the surrounding buildings, decore, people, and etc. When I first came to New York City, the first few days were a lot of Dériving, but back then, I had no term to name this flow of a free mindset in such a vibrant and busy city. Dériving creates a mental map, a mental map of our own of where certain locations are, and what we deem to be important will be part of the map. Unless we dérive with a partner, everyone’s mental map will become very different from each other. This is not the first time that I have dérived. Everytime I move into a new environment, I tend to dérive. It is a really efficient and casual way to understand where we are and the community around us.
Starting out from Washington Square Park, I began my Dérive. Immediately, I wanted to get out of the park. There wasn’t a specific reason as to why I felt that way; I wandered around the water fountain on to the other side of the park. Just around the corner of the other entrance, you see a park just for dogs and pets, which I never would’ve noticed. Going into the alleys, I found several restaurants or just food places that interested me, some with outdated designs and some with japanese or chinese calligraphy. It wasn’t a chilly day, I felt warm in my jackets and what others wore made me feel like I am wearing something in the summer vibe. There was one lady that I passed by that caught the attention of two police officers; she was taking her socks off, which appeared very odd because she was wearing boots. Many cyclist and skateboarders whooshed past my shoulders, as I started to wonder why I didn’t bring my skateboard abroad to America. I wasn’t very sure how I decided when to turn left or when to turn right, but I believed that I walked towards when the the traffic light flashed white. I did not have the intention to stop and wait for the traffic light because I firmly believe that would break the flow of the Dérive. Immediately after the Dérive ended, I noted down the restaurants and tea shops that I would definitely visit. Prior to this Dérive, I have no intention to ever walk down to Washington Square Park, but ever since that Dérive, I went out immediately the other day to have dinner with my friends. As I normally Dérive up to Koreatown and Union Square, I never thought of moving away from these spots. After this experience, the urge to Dérive even after I am acquainted with the City has came threw again. Especially in this city, where there are so much to discover.
