garrett and hawkins, 2013, and now for something completely different: thinking through explorers...

8/13/2019 Garrett and Hawkins, 2013, And now for something completely different: Thinking through explorers subject-bodies, Antipode.

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And Now For Something Completely Different

Thinking Through Explorer Subject!odie"# A $e"pon"e to %ott &nd $obert"

Bradley L. Garrett

School of Geography and the Environment

University of Oxford

[email protected]

!arriet !a"ins

#epartment of Geography

$oyal !ollo"ay% University of London

!arriet.!a"[email protected]

&e "ould lie to begin by thaning 'ott and $oberts for sparing a valuable conversation

regarding issues of social difference "ithin the contemporary urban exploration movement and

Antipodefor offering a platform for the discussion.(&e read )*ot everyone has +the, balls-

Urban exploration and the persistence of masculinist geography+'ott and $oberts /0(1,in the

midst of co2authoring a boo chapter on bodies% technologies% and affect through the production

and circulation of urban explorer imagery +Garrett and !a"ins forthcoming,. &here these t"o

conversations dovetailed% "e found much productive material. 3n "hat follo"s% "e tae up the

(4or those not familiar "ith urban exploration% it is a practice of accessing% and often documenting% off2limits urban

spaces +see Garrett /0(1a,.

(


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invitation that 'ott and $oberts offer to engage "ith 5uestions of social difference% and their call

to consider ho" feminist scholarship could 6significantly enrichen scholarship on 7urban

exploration89 +p./,./

&e "ant to tae this opportunity to open out a politics of urban exploration that% "hilst

concerned "ith revisiting the 5uestion of body2sub:ects 2 as 'ott and $oberts urge 2 suggests "e

might begin from some"here other than the particular understanding of socially differentiated

bodies that preoccupies their contribution. &e tae as our guides for such a pro:ect feminist

scholarship on corporeal materialisms and force relations by Eli;abeth Gros; +(


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necessarily only a beginning% much thining and empirical "or remains to be done on the

material and affective politics of the sub:ect and on the affective politics of the image "e outline

here% not only in terms of urban exploration% but also in broader disciplinary terms. &e hope%

ho"ever% "hat "e present here offers a productive response to 'ott and $oberts piece and

raises some 5uestions for future scholars of urban exploration to engage "ith.

A 'roblem&tic '&r&dox

4or us% a pivotal point of 'ott and $oberts article% and "here "e "ant to begin our comments% is

a paradox they identify-

6...on the one hand 7urban exploration8 emphasi;es embodiment and progressive politics% "hilst

on the other% there appears to be a reluctance to consider different inds of bodies and the

inclusionsCexclusions perpetuated through practices and discourses of exploration and the

privileged explorer2sub:ect. Ds long as this paradox remains unexamined% possibilities for a

radical engagement "ith the city through urbex "ill inevitably fall short9 +p.,.

vastly different motivations and concerns from disparate social bacgrounds. One explorer "rote- 63 felt that the

voice of the female explorer "as not present in the article. Dlso it seemed lie the authors only looed at a small

slice of UE culture% the part that is presented by mass media.9 4or others% it "as the narro"ness of the visual

representations chosen by 'ott and $oberts that "orried them% taing issue "ith the articles reproduction of "hat

they sa" as a by2product of the visual practices of a relatively small% but highly visible +online, sub2set of the

community. 'ott and $oberts "rite% 6"hile many "omen do engage in urbex% they figure often in photographic

representations of the practice as minority figures "ho appear to be going along "ith an activity that is largely ledand defined by the male explorers9 +p.(/,. Dmongst the reactions to this statement "ere responses that pointed

to"ard both exploration never documented and the "ealth of images that never made it onto blogs or into the public

domain that "ould have reframed this discussion. &hilst "e tae their points on a representational level% and agree

that the politics of these representations do deserve further criti5ue% "e found it unfortunate that the paper did not

open out a space in "hich visual representations and voices +from the "eb and else"here, could challenge those

vocal fe".

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&e certainly agree that the literature on urban exploration "ould benefit from a more explicit

engagement "ith difference +ho"ever it is to be understood,% given% as is implicit in the relatively

small body of scholarly "or that 'ott and $oberts engage% geographical analysis of the practice

is still incipient.=Ds both Bennett +/0((a, and Garrett +/0((c> /0(1b- (2//,% have argued% this is

a diverse community. 3t is one "here competing and contested identities and relationships to

place "or alongside attempts to order% control and rationali;e places and experiences.

'oreover% there is a valori;ation of certain modes of )discovery% some of "hich are

undoubtedly% as 'ott and $oberts forcefully demonstrate% shaped by particular performances of

masculinity.Ds Bennett +/0(1a, notes% ho"ever% they should not be reduced solely to such

performances.?4urther% and fascinatingly% these identity negotiations tae place across a range of

sites% the connections and interconnections of "hich are "orthy of further study> "hether these

be the embodied experiences of exploration% the forums and blogs of the online communities that

'ott and $oberts mae extensive use of% or the visual regimes and aesthetics produced in the

=&e "ould urge caution in too2soon constituting a 6geographic literature9 on urban exploration% as this is an

emergent topic consisting of a handful of articles by Lue Bennett +/0((a> /0((b> /0(1a> /0(1b, and Bradley

Garrett +/0(0> /0((a> /0((b> /0((c> /0((d> /0(/> /0(1a> /0(1b> /0(1c, +though also see raggs et al. /0(1 and#obras;c;y /00? for connected discussions,. 'ott and $oberts is an important intervention precisely because this

is a nascent vein of of geographic in5uiry% but "e "ould "orry that in building their argument they have concretised%often through the scaffold of blog posts% a body of scholarly "or that is far less voluminous they suggest +see also

footnote F,.5&ithin academic scholarship% both in and beyond geography% "e dofind important studies being penned that open

out some of these 5uestions about identity% discussing% for example% the role gender plays in urban exploration+rescott /0((> Bennett /0(1a,% the role of illness and disability +Genoso /00


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course of photographing and videoing urban exploration activities +rescott /0((> Bennett

/0(1b> Garrett and !a"ins forthcoming,.F

&here "e depart from 'ott and $oberts perspective% ho"ever% is in the tight e5uation

they dra" bet"een a failed politics of urban exploration I 6one that "ill inevitably fall short9 +p.

% emphasis added, I and "hat is% in their reading% of a lac of scholarly consideration of

bodiesCsub:ects understood primarily through 6social categories of age% sex% ethnicity% race and

disCability9 +Jacobs and *ash /001- /?,. 3n short% "hile "e agree that there is important% indeed

critical% "or to be done along such lines% there is also% "e contend% room for difference% the

social% and body2sub:ects to be understood differently% or at least for understandings of these

body2sub:ects% and their politics% to begin from a different place. &e see to brea do"n the

settlement 'ott and $oberts calculate bet"een a successful politics for urban exploration and

body2sub:ects sorted into named% no"n and represented identity categories% ho"ever

intersectional and performative these might be.

FAhe role of the virtual urban exploration community% to both explorers and others% is a fascinating topic +seeBennett /0((a,% "here there remains much scholarly "or to be done% not least about the far from simple position

occupied by urban exploration blogs that are both academic sites and points of engagement "ith the community +e.g.Garretts )lace !acing,. &e "ould urge caution% ho"ever% in the sometimes2too2easy conflation of sources that

perform different roles. Ao state the obvious% "hat a :ournal article is meant to do% is not "hat a blog post is meant to

do. &hile a :ournal article is often "ritten primarily to disseminate results of research to an academic audience%

taing clear theoretical stances and advancing no"ledge% a blog post may be meant to inspire community

gateeepers to grant access or inspire public interest in a research pro:ect. Ahese issues are further exacerbated "hen

using an in2text citation format "here these different modes of production are unclear. Ahese different modes of

production can themselves lead to a number of issues. Ds 'ott and $oberts text illustrates% it can be difficult to

appropriately ascertain "ho to credit ideas to. 4or example% a central citation to their argument about masculinity isthe follo"ing 5uote from the "ebsite Sleepy ity- 67h8is suggestion that "e laced balls confused us greatly% as

those "ho go head to head "ith the rolling stoc in the grimy% dimly lit% alcoveless metro tunnels are usually not

short on testicular fortitude% figuratively speaing9 +p.((,. Extracts from this 5uote appear several times +p.(/% p.(1,

and are implied in the title and are "rongly attributed to Garrett +the researcher,% rather than to the author of the

Sleepy ity blog% "hom Garrett accompanied to Barcelona as part of his field"or. 'istaes such as these can lead

to problematic and potentially damaging claims.

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3n "hat space remains "e "ant to lay the ground"or for a possible politics that begins

from other ideas of body2sub:ects and difference. 4irstly% "e return to ethnographic accounts of

the )doing of urban exploration and re2interrogate the ideas of the body2sub:ect "e find there.

Secondly% "e recoup "hat "e believe to be an important +contested, site for a political pro:ect of

urban exploration- the images created in the course of these activities. &e vie" this through the

lens of the urban explorer and artist 'iru Kim. &e conclude "ith brief reflections on "hat it

"ould mean to tae for"ard the version of a politics of urban exploration "e present here 2 one

version of "hat a politics of this practice might loo and feel lie.

!ecoming !odie"# Edgework &nd %eld

Unsurprisingly% debates around politics and the body often settle out as% at root% 5uestions that

concern the forms of politics and the ideas of the body2sub:ect upon "hich our perspectives rest.

3f 'ott and $oberts 5ueries concern social difference and the explorer2sub:ect% such as- 6&hose

bodies9% 6&hat counts as experience9 and 6&hat constitutes the exchange bet"een body and

place9 +p.F,. Our particular ans"er is directed less to"ard 5uestions of )&hose bodies% rather

"e as% perhaps more basically% 6&hat inds of bodies9 and 6&hat is meant by the body2

sub:ect% and ho" is such a sub:ect constituted9 +olls /0(/- =1,. 4urther% "e as 6&hat is the

relationship of this sub:ect to the "orld9. 4or us% this involves a reorientation from socially

sorted sub:ects% to consider% in the case of the ind of body2sub:ect "e find at "or in urban

exploration literature% the 6forces that provide the bacdrop to and are active in producing "hat

comes to be understood as )a sub:ect9 +olls /0(/- =1


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+Garrett /0((c> /0(/,. Edge"or is a multi2faceted term adapted from sociology and

criminology% often used in discussion of phenomenological experiences of high ris activities but

also applicable to more everyday practices "here normative behavior and routinised action are

engaged "ith critically.3n Garretts "riting% edge"or is a bodily doing that sees individuals

and collectives approaching various +material and immaterial, edges and boundaries. Aaing

form in physical challenges presented by literal features of urban architecture% or mental hurdles

particular to the individual% these edges and boundaries may be exceeded and relocated% or% in

another theoretical vocabulary deterritoriali;ed and reterritoriali;ed +Garrett /0(/> Garrett

/0(1a,.

Ahis territoriali;ation is a process "herein "e find the body2sub:ect not :ust open to

forces and sensations in the environment% but composed through a relationship "ith them.

Experimenting "ith this idea% Garrett deploys the meld% a term "ith a very particular materiality%

"herein the identity trappings of the socially2constructed sub:ect fall a"ay as a result of the

exploring sub:ects absorptive focus on their embodied actions and experiences% "hatever and

"herever these may be. #ramatic descriptions of becoming bodies in the midst of action aside%

"hat these accounts configure is a ind of corporeal morphology> a "ay of negotiating bodily

boundaries that has productive resonances "ith the body2city relations Gros; proposes-

6D model of relations bet"een bodies and cities "hich sees them not as megalithic total entities%

distinct identities% but as assemblages or collections of parts% capable of crossing the thresholds

bet"een substances to form linages% machines% provisional and often temporary sub2 or

Ahe term 6edge"or9 "as first used by Stephen Lyng% "ho adapted it from !unter S. Ahompson +(


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microgroupingsNa fundamentally disunified series of interconnections% a series of disparate

flo"s% energies% events or entities% and spaces% brought together or dra"n apart in more or less

temporary alignments9 +( energy and matter in a constant state of composition. Ao consider

these bodies is to tae account of the role of not :ust the personal% but also the impersonal and

interpersonal forces that compose sub:ects-

6Ninhuman forces% forces that are both living and non2living% macroscopic and microscopic%

above and belo" the level of the human are acno"ledged and allo"ed to displace the centrality

of both consciousness and unconsciousness9 +Gros; /00?- (M


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material bodies that can never be cleanly or clearly cleaved into a set of named% no"n and

represented identities9 +ibid.,. 3n Braidottis "ords-

6Ahe body refers to the materialist but also vitalist groundings of human sub:ectivity and to the

specifically human capacity to be both grounded and to flo" and thus to transcend the very

variablesclass% race% sex% gender% age% disability"hich structure us. 3t rests on a post2

identitarian vie" of "hat constitutes a sub:ect9 +/0(/- 11,.

Ahis is not then to see recourse to some sort of biological essentialism% or to deny that these

forms of body2sub:ect put much at ris "hen they see to escape categorical fixes% proposing 6a

more open% multiple% intangible and affective understanding of sub:ectivities9 +Jacobs and *ash

/001- /1?,. Ahe ris% articulated by 'ott and $oberts% is one of 6unintentionally reinstating the

unmared% disembodied% but implicitly masculine sub:ect9 +Jacobs and *ash /001- /1?,.

4urthermore% any theoretical frame"or that "ould enable% for example% aggressive sho"s of

masculism that% as 'ott and $oberts demonstrate% doexist in the urban exploration community%

to go unremared and unchallenged is clearly not acceptable. Ahat the emphasis on practical%

lived experience% and the pre2personal might lead to the centering of a sub:ect 6shorn of social

difference9% is not a ne" charge- humanistic geographies and non2representational theories have

both faced similar accusations +Dnderson and !arrison /0(0- (1> also see *ash /000> Saldahana%

/00?> Aolia2Kelly /00F,.

Ds urban exploration literatures inevitably mature% one of the ey 5uestions should surely

be not to disregard collective inscriptions such as gender% but rather to loo to ho" feminists%

post2colonial scholars and 5ueer theorists have sought to 5uery ho" it is that the durabilities of

orderings% such as race or gender emerge from the heterogeneous elements that compose them.


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!o" sexed difference% for example% becomes a 5uestion of exploring 6the complex yet concrete

materialities immersed in social relations of po"er9 +Braidotti /0(/- /(,% these obdurate

categories coming to be understood as assemblages 6formed from "ithin heterogeneous

materialities of bodies% technologies and places9 +Dnderson and !arrison /0(0- (M,. Ao engage

"ith this idea further% and find a footing% albeit tentatively% for a politics and an ethics that "ould

propagate from this understanding of the body2sub:ects of urban exploration "e "ant to turn to

consider some of the images that urban explorers create.

Affecti(e 'olitic" of the )i"u&l# %iru *im

Urban explorer and artist 'iru Kim a high2profile interlocutor bet"een urban exploration and

theorists of the aesthetics and critical social theori;ation of ruins +!a"ins /0(0a> !ell and

SchHnle /0(0,.MKims photography pivots around her deployment of her female form% often

nude% "ithin the lexicon of sites favored by urban explorers in cities around the "orld 2 from

*e" Pors sub"ays to London se"ers to the ruins of 3stanbul. &e do not have the space here to

conduct a full analysis of Kims photographic "or% and fully agree "ith 'ott and $oberts

observation of the need for a 6sustained critical treatment of the range of visual images produced

by urban explorers9 +p.=,% not least because of the need to appreciate these images as rather more

complex than 'ott and $oberts reductive description of them as 6invariably in a con5uering or

heroic mode9 +p.((, "ould allo". &hile such posturing is common% "e "ould assert that there

are varied visualities of urban exploration that can act as important sites for the production of

urban exploration politics.

8See Kims AE# tal- http-CC""".ted.comCtalsCmiruQimQsQundergroundQart.html+last accessed (< September

/0(1,. See also her "ebsite for examples of her images- http-CC""".miruim.comCstatement*aeditySpleen.php

+last accessed (< September /0(1,.

(0
http://www.ted.com/talks/miru_kim_s_underground_art.htmlhttp://www.ted.com/talks/miru_kim_s_underground_art.html


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Kims compositions frame both the formal properties and teeming organic and inorganic

materialities of her sites. Ahrough her particular aesthetic sensibilities% especially in her use and

manipulation of chiaroscuro 2 the play of +natural and imported, light and dar at the sites 2 her

"or resonates "ith the visual regimes consciously or unconsciously adopted by many other

urban explorers. /0(1 for discussions in relation to geography,.

((


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tunnels% se"ers% catacombs% factories% hospitals% and shipyardsform the subconscious of the

city% "here collective memories and dreams reside.9((

Ahere are clear resonances here bet"een the possibilities of the psychoanalytic discussions that

'ott and $oberts signal% the metabolic urbanisms common to contemporary 'arxist urban

ecologies% and the urban body2politic of Gros; and others discussed above. &hat "e can find in

the visual regimes of Kims images is% "e "ould argue% a set of productive sub:ect2

environmental relations "ith a politics rather different than those of the 6hero shot9% the

overvie" image% or the body2maring2place landscape image% all of "hich can be traced from

earlier modes of colonial exploration into contemporary urban exploration imagery +#omosh

(


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6Experiencing feelings of alienation and anxiety in the city I a city that has increasingly become

more surveilled and commodified I 3 began to understand ho" many artists and authors suffered

from severe bouts of depression% inertia% and isolation...One of the "ays 3 escaped such feelings

"as to visit desolate and hidden places in the city. Every time 3 stepped out of the ordinary

aboveground spaces that "ere filled "ith anonymous cro"ds% 3 felt regenerated and

unrestrained.9(/

3n finding spaces "ithin the city that free her from particular forms of surveillance% modes of

practice and bodily consciousnesses% Kim echoes sentiments common to the explorer community

and to a raft of feminist scholars "ho have sought to complicate the city as a space of danger and

fear +&ilson (


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images. 3n rescotts +/0((, paper% referenced by 'ott and $oberts% "e find an interesting re2

appropriation of urban exploration imagery of ruined +often no" demolished, hospitals that

"ors along these lines. rescott% lining the medicali;ation of the birthing process "ith theories

of ruination% explores ho" urban exploration imagery offers a source of alternative sub:ect

positions for "omen "hose birthing experiences in these spaces had been traumatic or even left

in )ruins by the institutionali;ed birthing practices. &e "ould suggest rescotts analysis% lie

Kims images% form stepping stones to"ard a politics of urban exploration imagery that is based

not in actually being there% on doing exploration% but in the imaginative spaces these images open

out.

Ahis is a politics of urban exploration that lies in both "hat these images picture% but also

ho" they picture% ho" they do )"or as images after the shutter clic. &e are interested in "hat

Latham and 'cormac +/00


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particularities and more the very possibility of inhabiting% or occupying urban space beyond%

beside and "ithin forms presented to us for )appropriate use.

Conclu"ion# Tow&rd" &n Affirm&ti(e Criti+ue of ,rb&n Explor&tion

&e "ould lie once more to reiterate our thans to 'ott and $oberts for opening out an

important set of 5uestions around the politics of urban exploration. Ahis is valuable "or that

raises crucial issues at a time "hen the nascent geographical "or on urban exploration is

gathering pace. &hile "e tae a number of their points% "e are perhaps not in total agreement on

ho" to approach a critical engagement "ith the practice. &e "ould argue% as "e have hopefully

demonstrated% that there are multiple "ays in "hich one might be able to thin through a politics

for urban exploration that attends to difference.

Ahrough a re2visiting of ethnographic accounts of urban exploration and a discussion of

the possibilities and affective capacities of the imagery that urban explorers produce% "e have

sought to acno"ledge other routes by "hich 5uestions of difference in exploration might be

pursued. 3n doing so% "e identify t"o sites of politics that% "hilst they might be based in a

different understanding of difference than these engaged "ith by 'ott and $oberts% "e

nevertheless believe do offer productive points from "hich to move for"ard "ith thining about

urban exploration as a political practice. 'aing room for a fruitful feminist criti5ue that begins

less from 5uestions of 6cultural construction of sub:ectivity than in the materials out of "hich

such a construction is forged9 +Gros; (


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non2human and in2human forces and processes that exceed this corporeality in extensive%

intensive% temporal and ontogenetic "ays9 +'cormac /001- =M


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materials% and to academic and popular accounts of urban exploration to interrogate% "ith

perhaps greater vigilance than before% "hat forms of body2sub:ect are found there. Ahe results

"ere hopefully illuminating% raising "hat "e believe are critical concerns for ho" it is "e

understand urban exploration and connected political interventions into space.

October 2013

$eference"

Dnderson B and !arrison +/0(0, Ahe promise of non2representational theories. 3n B Dnderson

and !arrison +eds, Taking-Place !on-"epresentational Theories and #eography+pp(2

1=,. London- Dshgate

Bennett L +/0((a, Bunerology- D case study in the theory and practice of urban exploration.

$nvironment and Planning % &ociety and &pace/


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$oyal !ollo"ay% University of London

Garrett B L +/0((d, Shallo" excavation- D response to )Bunerology. (0 June

http-CCsocietyandspace.comC/0((C0FC(0Cshallo"2excavation2a2response2to2bunerology2

by2bradley2l2garrettC +last accessed (( *ovember /0(1,

Garrett B L +/0(/, Edge"or- Getting close% getting cut% getting out. 3n Ahe State +eds, The

&tate' *ol &pec)lative #eographies#ubai- Ahe State

Garrett B L +/0(1a,$plore $verything Place-acking the (ity London- erso

Garrett B L +/0(1b, Ahe affectual affordances of industrial urban exploration. 3n ! Orange and S

enrose +eds,"eanimating nd)strial &paces&alnut ree- Left oast ress

Garrett B L +/0(1c, Undertaing recreational trespass- Urban exploration and infiltration.

Transactions of the nstit)te of .ritish #eographers !O3-(0.((((Ctran.(/00(

Garrett B L and !a"ins ! +forthcoming, reative video ethnographies- ideo methodologies

not methods. 3n Bates +ed, *ideo ,ethods

Genoso G +/00


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!a"ins ! +/0(1,+or (reative #eographies #eography' *is)al Arts' and the ,aking of

5orlds London- $outledge

!ell J and SchHnle D +eds, +/0(0,")ins of ,odernity %)rham- #ue University ress

!igh S and Le"is # & +/00, (orporate 5asteland 3thaca- ornell University ress

Jacobs J and *ash +/001, Aoo little% too much- ultural feminist geographies. #ender' Place

and ()lt)re(0-/F?2/

garrett and hawkins, 2013, and now for something completely different: thinking through explorers...

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