Laura Liverani, visiting lecturer at National College of Art and Design in Dublin delivered a workshop as part of the “In Public, In Particular” project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
In Public, In Particular (IPIP) aims to develop and promote participatory art methods and situation specific art among European audiences. The main tools to reach these aims are audience research, public workshops and international street happenings which are carried through by artists and art students in close cooperation with street actors and the public of four European streets.
“The Psychogeographical Camera Obscura” workshop questioned conventional and established photographic processes in order to explore alternative means of optically mediated vision and image capture. The overall purpose was to re-discover the ‘degree zero’ of photography, i.e. ‘writing with light’, within a contemporary perspective, and deployed on Thomas Street in Dublin. Vision through a camera obscura would ideally produce new perceptions and provoke reflections on narratives of place.
Specifically, the camera obscura gaze was applied to the psychogeographical exploration of places and their narratives: the optical device was used to observe the landscape, while eliciting related accounts, stories and memories by engaging with the public on Thomas Street. Ad hoc methodologies and approaches for working directly on the street were devised collectively by the students. Participants brought self-built devices to a previously selected site, which was then surveyed and mapped. Documentation of the fieldwork, including imagery and text, was produced.

IPIP CONSORTIUM
Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), Finland
University of Zagreb Faculty of Graphic Arts (GRF), Croatia
National College of Arts and Design (NCAD), Ireland
Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium