The Modern Day Oberserver

Image 1: The arcade spectacle

The design and “architecture” of a space is greatly influenced by various factors. One space in particular is Walter Benjamin’s Arcades project in Paris. Developments in urbanisation led to the construction of the arcades in the early nineteenth century (Prouty, 2009, pg. 1). They provided an escape from the bustling crowds of the outside street. Thus the historical figure of the flâneur was established. The flâneur was a detached observer or spectator who leisurely strolled the streets in a distracted manner. They had an ambiguous social position which was intended to remove people form the streets and reduce crime as a result of urbanisation through attraction to the unusual. The flâneur also represented the slow death of the commodity because, “if the flâneurs were useless and non-productive… the luxury goods for sale in the Paris arcades had no use value” (Prouty, 2009, pg. 1).

This concept of the flâneur can be applied to the cyber world as well, particularly with Facebook. Cyber-flâneurs “wonder anonymously within the boundaries of virtual space, developing a virtual identity” (Barnes, 1997, pg. 1). In a Facebook context, the arcades are Facebook where Cyber- flâneurs virtually travel through them as spectators. The concept of ‘window shopping’ can be applied as numerous companies advertise products and deals through this network. Sometimes the quantity of advertisements becomes overwhelming and the commodity value is lost of the advertised products. However, the Cyber- flâneur still enjoys the spectacle of this cyber arcade.

Unlike the arcade flâneurs, cyber-flâneurs navigate through the virtual labyrinth of the internet with no mapped boundaries. This is because, “Cyberspace is indeed only a ‘practised place’ where a dependable map is in fact impossible to construct” (Barnes, 1997, pg. 2). The virtual space cannot be mapped in advance as it can only be ‘mapped’ as it is discovered. This influences Cyber-flâneur behaviour as maps, “inform and shape how we act in and conceptualize space and place” (Kuttainen, 2016).

References  

Barnes, G. (1997).  Passage of the Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 4: Maps. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Prouty, R. (2009). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved from

http://onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html

MS multiple shoppers window shopping in royal arcade / Melbourne [Image]. (1999). Retrieved from

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/video/multiple-shoppers-window-shopping-in-royal-arcade-stock-video-footage/148738565