It sounds like my sort of book, with a link to the quotidian / everyday lives of those who live in cities, as well as performative / interaction sense similar to our Mission:Explore approach, which also 'gave permission' for people to do things they might not previously have done.
It talks about the importance of providing open spaces in cities which offer a "geography of openness and possibility".
Planning and the rise of technology have removed opportunities for us to make random, chance encounters, which has also been made less likely by the lingering results of the COVID19 pandemic and lockdowns. Headphones, which are an essential part of my travelling experience, are described as 'a "do not disturb" sign hanging from our ears'.The book references Stuart Hall's work on cities and how they condense difference.
He also references the artist Abigail Conway. She references the everyday in her work, which makes us think about how we interact with our surroundings. The film below shows a work in progress called RIDE.
//RIDE from Abigail Conway on Vimeo.
The publishers' website adds:
In this deeply rewarding book, Andy Field brings together history, science, psychology, queer theory, and pop culture with his love of urban life and his own experiences—both as a city-dweller and as a performance artist—to forge creative connections: walking hand-in-hand with strangers, knocking on doors, staging encounters in parked cars. In considering twelve different kinds of encounters, from car rides to video calls to dog-walker chats in the park, Field argues “that in the spontaneity and joy of our meetings with each other, we might find the faint outline of a better future.
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