Tag Archives: Paris

Wild Twin by Jeff Young

Posted on 29/10/2024 by Bobby Seal

Book Review – October 2024 One of the things that struck me about all of this junk was that every single object was a repository of someone else’s memory, because it had got to the auction rooms from the house clearances … Continue reading →

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Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice and London by Lauren Elkin

Posted on 07/10/2016 by Bobby Seal

The flâneuse does exist, whenever we have deviated from the paths laid out for us, lighting out for our own territories. Lauren Elkin is well-qualified to write this book, not only has she lived in Paris, London, New York, Tokyo … Continue reading →

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The City, Modernism and the Flâneuse

Posted on 20/10/2015 by Bobby Seal

  The passing of the historical figure paved the way for the resurrection of the flâneur as a methodological persona, adopted in order to pursue the exploration of the city. Stripped to its basic characteristics and used as a modus … Continue reading →

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Baudelaire, Benjamin and the Birth of the Flâneur

Posted on 14/11/2013 by Bobby Seal

  On voit un chiffonnier qui vient, hochant la tête, Butant, et se cognant aux murs comme un poète, Et, sans prendre souci des mouchards, ses sujets, Epanche tout son coeur en glorieux projets. Charles Baudelaire: ‘Le Vin de Chiffonniers’ … Continue reading →

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Cléo’s Journey

Posted on 24/04/2012 by Bobby Seal

For me, the most fascinating thing about the film Cléo From 5 to 7 is Cléo’s journey through Paris.  She travels on foot, by bus and in a car, her physical journey seeming to mirror her inner odyssey.  Paris, as … Continue reading →

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Agnès Varda’s Cléo From 5 to 7

Posted on 23/04/2012 by Bobby Seal

Cléo From 5 to 7 is one of the key films of the French New Wave.  Director Agnès Varda sets out to create a cinematic odyssey about our perception of time, with much of the action filmed in real time … Continue reading →

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Walter Benjamin and The Arcades Project

Posted on 17/02/2012 by Bobby Seal

In many ways The Arcades Project is Benjamin’s lament for the passing of the flâneur. For Benjamin, the flâneur’s disappearance functions as a symbol for the ravages of capitalism upon metropolitan life.  The changing urban environment was no longer conducive … Continue reading →

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