[Reading Response] Michel de Certeau

In this chapter, Michel clarifies the definition of “space” and its relationship with “place”, emphasizing its characteristic of dynamic. The first main part explains the two main different ways to explore, understand and exhibit “space”. Through the production and development of maps, he demonstrates how people know space through stories and how stories created on the basis of space.

According to Michel, “space is a practiced place” “Stories thus carry out a labour that constantly transforms places into spaces or spaces into places.”, which remind me of my field trip in Yau Ma Tei. When arriving the fruit market, the guide told us about the immigrant community here. The place is practiced as a fruit market and also carries special cultural meanings–the immigrant culture and its mixture with local daily life habits. The film scene enriches the film with not only its outlook but also the culture it carries.

One of the main reasons of our fieldtrips is to explore the “practiced place”, linking the film scene with the place we actually see. The place, as the scene, was acquired “stories” and in turn the stories were read by spectators. We tried to connect the “stories”, which indicates the film, with the scene, the space, finding the interaction between them.
The interaction between the space, stories and the special way to present the stories (film) is quite dynamic and fascinating, especially when considering the passing time the environment has changed a lot compared to the film scene. It is interesting I have different but similar impression on the geometrically same place.

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