Alexander Beer

Glad I didn't get that prompt! 😂

Most of my home is covered in brown stucco, which is common in my hometown. It's harder to find here, so it was like a blast from the past!

I used the app so that some of my movements weren't driven by the intentional stimuli of the town (signs, roads, crowds). The app was purpose-built for these kinds of explorations so I thought it would be a good fit!

A path between buildings by a river

The final “sense” was thought. The app said to find a location with memory, so I found a path that I walked often with a friend last summer.
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A cone of chocolate and orange gelato

The best was taste. The app said to try a new flavour of gelato. I happily got blood orange. Proof even buying can lead to new explorations.
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A zoomed-in picture of stucco on a wall

For touch, the app said to find a surface and draw. My drawing was of a nearby chair, and I found a stuccoed building—it felt like my house.
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For smell, I caught that classic Subway aroma that transcends countries, and a pizza scent from a local place: one international, one local.
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Now to sounds. I heard bird calls between the alleyway and the house, which made me reflect on the different bird calls in Durham/back home.
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A house, with a wall that's a mix of wattle and daub, brick, and later alterations.

As I continued, I found a gorgeous house with tons of obvious archaeological changes, which I found by looking up—it was right by my house!!
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An Image of a green alleyway, with a castle tower in the background

For my sight, the app said to find a hidden place, so I ducked in an alley, surrounded by greenery. I found a great new angle of the castle.
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What is a dérive? It’s a wander around a city/town, trying to notice small, subtle, hidden, or new things. It’s intentionally unintentional.
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I used the Dérive app to start this exploration but also did my own wandering. I got ten observations of Durham—only five were from the app.
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Welcome to my Contemporary Archaeology thread! Here I’ll explain my psychogeographical exploration (dérive) of Durham, and its impressions on all of my senses.
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