Psychogeography essay

More often than not, psychogeography explores the sections of urban environments that have been discarded or marginalized. As such, psychogeography is primarily interested in drift or rather getting lost in the city. Additionally, psychogeography looks at the spatial history of a place as presented by the environment and the re-enchantment of the cityscape. The short film, ‘Over the Marshes: Plumstead to Cross Ness' and the memoir by Otto Don Kulka, ‘Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death' are examples of literary pieces that adopt a keen psychogeographic perspective. The author of ‘Landscapes of the Metropolis of Death,' Otto Don Kulka is an ardent student and writer of the era of Nazism and the Holocaust. The short film by Nick Papadimitriou and John Rogers shows the walk from Plumstead to Cross Ness along the Southern Sewer.

The film depicts the topography of the place while revealing the history of the Southern Sewer. Papadimitriou and Rogers critique the scenery that they are exposed to as they question whether the estates in the area depict a failed modernist dream. The two experts follow the path of south London's sewage to its the end which is located at the sewage colony at Cross Ness Point. The region shown in the short film is branded as one of the most significant London sights there is. As much as walking or drifting allows for the wholesome experience of the urban environment, it also helps to demystify the histories and myths of urban spaces. Don uses the urban area that he visits to reveal its history as well as go back in time to a period when he was an inhabitant of the same place.

According to one of the most popular psychogeographers in the contemporary society; Will Self, walking serves a ritual purpose. Furthermore, walking through urban environments helps to "dissolve the mechanized matrix that compresses the time-space continuum" (Self 2017). As such, the histories of the urban landscape can be experienced and witnessed when walking. Don details his entry into the gates of Auschwitz for the second time and takes on a familiar path to a section he was sure was one of the camps. The author further details the physical structures that had been left. There are concrete pillars, walls with taut wires and concrete chimneys. The first place that the author reports visiting is the leftover foundation of what used to be the Youth and Children's block.

He goes further towards the hospital block as he recounts how his life was spared at the time he was down with diphtheria. At the same time, there is a melancholic feeling hanging about when the author remembers his time at the camp. Furthermore, it is almost as if ten or eleven-year-old Don Kulka has been released and is roaming the camp once again. "To the boy that he believed would … might come out of there. And he did come out of there, and took that with him…" (Kulka 2013). The crematorium has a hold on the author's feelings and current reality. Unlike Don Kulka's memoir, the short film is based solely on the exploration and documentation of the scenes along the southern sower.

The area covered in the film is credited as one of the best sights in London. By documenting the southern outfall, Nick and John are trying to re-enchant the place. The re-enchantment of city spaces is another prominent feature of psychogeography whereby places that have been overlooked and are not paid to attention anymore are given a new touch or focus. The southern outfall was once a marshland that was drained to create a new settlement. The term obscenery is used to refer to negative transitions in the urban landscape (Huyssen, 2003). Often, obscenery is used to refer to places that have undergone drastic changes from being unusable land to valuable land. The case of Plumstead station and Cross Ness sewage fits the description of obscenery.