2007 # WRITING

October 2007, London

Being in transit has always been an integral way of life. Explorations of the idea of “movement” and “travel” can be found in various traditional narratives, both literary and visual. What used to be an imaginary longing for adventure has become a current reality of increased mobility and circulation of people. However, migration does not necessarily imply traditional practices of travel. Running shoes, IKEA-furniture and drawer units on castors in big offices have become supporting tools of mobility. Literally speaking every desire can be a movement to elsewhere, every object a souvenir of somewhere. Even the usage of a Japanese toy or a visit at the local Pizzeria have become signifiers of a global world. Likewise the term “global village” refers to a modern world without geographical or time barriers. McLuhan argues that by using electronic media our world becomes transformed into a neighbourhood. It has emerged that these phenomena indicate proceeding possibilities of mobility, both physical and psychological. Yet the question remains when “freedom from location becomes dislocation; the ability to escape an inability to belong” (Blamey). Being a migrant myself, I coevally experienced a strong longing for the distance and having arrived there, a terrible homesickness. “I would like to leave and return, to see once what it is like at home”, says Friederike von Koenigswald in her literary digressions. In this spirit my final project happened to be a journey detecting various examples of deterritorialisation.

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Kingston University London
Master Communication Design