Thursday Morning In A Café
I've been thinking about human interaction and public space for a few weeks (YEARS, actually ;))
anyway, I've been reading a great compilation of essays called "L'esthétique relationnelle",
Nicolas Bourriaud research is about contemporary Art and its intention of making people come together.
I love it, cos' I'm really into "communities" and because I do believe in random encounters being the essence
the essence of it all. My main reason to live: I might find someone interesting and spend an hour having an amazing conversation! That is.
Then, on monday or so, I was watching the news on TV and they featured a really short reportage on how cafés are disappearing in France and how the french administration is trying to preserve them as part of their cultural heritage. So, one of the responsible of the preservation campaign gave an important clue on why cafés are less and less important in our lives (I say "our" because we, in Spain, have a huge bar-culture (bar understood as café, mainly), he said before people would go to the cafés not just to actually have a coffee (or beer) or hang out with their friends, they would go there alone, with time, and would spontaneously start a conversation with their neighbours, either unknown people or ususal customers (not really friends, just the guys you find every morning sipping coffee next to you, a bond is created, but it's subtle), on diverse subjects. People would go there to discuss events, news... It still happens, of course, specially when it's about football, or something really important has happenned, but less and less.
Nowadays, you go to a café and stay on your own, you bring your book, your laptop, your notebook, friends, sons, husband, mother, boss, whoever... Everyone assumes no one wants to be disturbed. I go to cafés on my own because I don't wanna be disturbed by the usual suspects (parents, boyfriend, friends, people I live with and enjoy their company but from which I need to stay away from time to time), but I do want that random human interaction.
So, now we are getting there, I could continue either by telling you what Nicolas Bourriaud thinks about all this shit, or how architects such as Patrick Bouchain work in order to make public space become a laboratory for hazardous relationships, or what happenned to me yesterday morning at my favourite café while reading the book and sketching public space opportunities.
But I'd rather go and eat something first!
anyway, I've been reading a great compilation of essays called "L'esthétique relationnelle",
Nicolas Bourriaud research is about contemporary Art and its intention of making people come together.
I love it, cos' I'm really into "communities" and because I do believe in random encounters being the essence
the essence of it all. My main reason to live: I might find someone interesting and spend an hour having an amazing conversation! That is.
Then, on monday or so, I was watching the news on TV and they featured a really short reportage on how cafés are disappearing in France and how the french administration is trying to preserve them as part of their cultural heritage. So, one of the responsible of the preservation campaign gave an important clue on why cafés are less and less important in our lives (I say "our" because we, in Spain, have a huge bar-culture (bar understood as café, mainly), he said before people would go to the cafés not just to actually have a coffee (or beer) or hang out with their friends, they would go there alone, with time, and would spontaneously start a conversation with their neighbours, either unknown people or ususal customers (not really friends, just the guys you find every morning sipping coffee next to you, a bond is created, but it's subtle), on diverse subjects. People would go there to discuss events, news... It still happens, of course, specially when it's about football, or something really important has happenned, but less and less.
Nowadays, you go to a café and stay on your own, you bring your book, your laptop, your notebook, friends, sons, husband, mother, boss, whoever... Everyone assumes no one wants to be disturbed. I go to cafés on my own because I don't wanna be disturbed by the usual suspects (parents, boyfriend, friends, people I live with and enjoy their company but from which I need to stay away from time to time), but I do want that random human interaction.
So, now we are getting there, I could continue either by telling you what Nicolas Bourriaud thinks about all this shit, or how architects such as Patrick Bouchain work in order to make public space become a laboratory for hazardous relationships, or what happenned to me yesterday morning at my favourite café while reading the book and sketching public space opportunities.
But I'd rather go and eat something first!