Narrowing my process, I have opted to focus on interview as the primary method for investigating my chosen site. Asking interviewees to close their eyes and focus on their surroundings, I aim to encourage each to reject the role of Marshall McLuhan’s “detached observer” (McLuhan 1967, p.42) and foster a self-awareness in relation to their environment. As to whether this works or not is entirely down to the individual interviewee and makes for interesting listening.
When collated together, the listener is presented with a catalogue of approaches and ways of interacting with space that illuminate the concept of situatedness. Depending on the person, we may be treated to a brief history lesson, a recall of the site’s physical features, or a description of the atmosphere which envelops it.
McLuhan, M. and Fiore, Q. (1967) The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Corte Madera, CA: Ginko Press Ltd.