Essays on Psychogeography and the City as Performance

Drifting Through Wonderlands

Edited By: John C Green

From £36.99

Inspired by Psychogeography, this collection of essays by international scholar-artists highlights the performative aspects of cities. It offers a practical guide to experiencing the cityscape as the Artscape, where performance and imagination create immersive public art.

With 70% of the world’s population expected to live in urban environments by 2050, cities are poised to become the most significant spaces to shape…

With 70% of the world’s population expected to live in urban environments by 2050, cities are poised to become the most significant spaces to shape personal and communal identity. As contemporary cities become “event destinations” a dialogue is emerging between the performing arts and the urban context and social fabric. Inspired by the principles of Psychogeography, this collection of essays highlights the performative aspects of cities as landscapes of creative inspiration where curiosity, imagination, playfulness, and the energy of the street combine with contemporary performance practices to create immersive public art experiences. Written by an international cohort of scholar-artists, these essays offer arts practitioners, urban specialists, and general readers a practical guide to experiencing the cityscape as the Artscape.

John C Green is a stage director and professor of theatre at Columbia College Chicago, USA, where he teaches courses in ‘psychogeography and performance’ in the department’s international graduate program, Acting and Contemporary Performance Making. He has authored several articles on the Italian director Alessandro Fersen, together with the book Mnemodrama in Action: An Introduction to the Theatre of Alessandro Fersen (2019). Other articles include “The Hunchback Variations” in Music on Stage (2015), and “Going Back to Dionysus” in (Dis) Placing Classical Greek Theatre (1999). His award-winning productions have been staged in Europe, the USA, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Khalid Long, Clayton Smith, Florian Hollerweger, Anastasia Logotheti, Desiree Sabatini, Carlos Ariel Gutierrez Torres, John C Green, Mary Filice, David Hoppe, Ryan Smith, Paola Bertolone, Johann Robert Montozzi-Wood