SETTING THE CITY AS A STAGE

From  the  start  of  this  research  project  it  was  apparent  through  the  informal  meetings  and   interviews  that  I  did  with  practitioners  of  parkour  that  there  was  an  increasing  demand  for   specially   designed   facilities9  _{that   enabled   them   to   train   without   the   disturbance   from}   property   owners,   security   guards,   or   other   members   of   the   general   public.   It   was   also   apparent   that   local   authorities   were   undertaking   measures   to   prevent   parkour   and   freerunning   occurring   in   areas   that   were   becoming   popular   within   the   parkour   community.10  _{As  a  researcher  this  raised  both  questions  about  the  political  implications  of}   parkour,  and  concerns  in  relation  to  ethical  implications  of  engaging  with  an  activity  where  I   could  be  seen  as  encouraging  activities  that  could  potentially  be  seen  as  being  anti-­‐social  or   dangerous.  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  research  activities  were  designed  in  the  way  in   which  they  were.  It  was  also  clear  from  the  dialogue  that  I  had  with  the  parkour  community   that   there   was   a   considerable   degree   of   variation   between   practitioners   with   regards   to   their  experiences  and  their  reasons  for  participating  in  the  discipline.  It  was  also  for  those   reasons  that  I  chose  not  to  focus  on  attempting  to  record  their  life  simply  as  it  was,  in  order   to   concentrate   on   creating   situations   that   enabled   them   to   engage   directly   with   their   sensory  relationship  with  the  built  environment.  Although  this  method  could  be  criticised   for   creating   an   inauthentic   scenario,   it   is   important   to   be   aware   of   the   lengths   by   which   practitioners  create  events  to  be  filmed,  which  in  themselves  could  also  be  considered  as  a   form  of  fiction.11  _{It  is  important  therefore  to  consider  the  work  of  anthropologists  such  Jean}  

9  _{One  of  the  places  visited  on  several  occasions  throughout  the  course  of  this  research  was  the}  

council  run  gym  on  Park  Road,  in  the  Toxteth  area  of  Liverpool.  This  gym  was  nationally  recognised   as  a  centre  of  excellence  for  gymnastic  training  and  offered  practitioners  of  parkour  opportunities  to   experiment  with  movements  in  a  relatively  safe  environment.    

10  _{An  example  of  this  can  be  found  in  the  Wirral  peninsula.  In  the  summer  of  2009,  the  local  council}  

sent  letters  to  local  residents  that  identified  parkour  and  freerunning  as  having  connections  with   ‘anti-­‐social  behaviour  and  damage  to  public  buildings’.  

11  _{Parkour  videos  that  are  distributed  on  video  sharing  websites  such  as  YouTube  are  commonly}  

Rouch  and  documentary  filmmakers  such  as  Robert  Flaherty  that  construct  fictions  in  order   to   create   meaningful   events   and   representations   between   research   participants,   filmmakers  and  the  audience.    

  Additionally,   due   to   the   growing   interest   in   the   aforementioned   parkour   training   facilities,   I   felt   it   was   important   as   a   researcher   to   document   the   city   from   the   perspective   of   practitioners   at   a   particular   moment   in   the   movement’s   history.   Furthermore,  as  an  individual  that  has  received  architectural  training  this  approach  offered   a  unique  opportunity  to  examine  the  unplanned  scenarios  those  urban  spaces  engendered.   Consequently,   I   developed   a   research   methodology   orientated   around   touring   the   city   of   Liverpool,   gathering   the   participants’   audio-­‐visual   responses   using   a   video   camera.12  _Not   only  did  using  the  city  as  a  backdrop  for  these  exercises  offer  an  opportunity  to  define  their   perception   Liverpool   based   on   the   references   of   their   choosing,   it   also   provided   an   opportunity   to   examine   individuals’   non-­‐verbal   responses,   as   it   communicates   how   the   entirety  of  the  body  can  be  involved  with  communicating  what  is  important  to  them  about   the  places  they  inhabit.  As  Pink  highlights,  

Walking   with   video   demonstrates   how   phenomenological   audio-­‐visual   research   methods   might   serve   a   sensory   ethnography   that   recognises   the   significance   of   movement.   […]   More   generally,   a   sensory   video-­‐ethnography-­‐in-­‐movement   approach   thus   offers   exciting   possibilities   for   ethnographers   seeking   to   combine   their  empathetic  co-­‐presence  with  participants  in  movement  and  verbal  reflection   about  participants’  everyday  practices  (Pink  2009,  p.  110).  

In   the   case   of   this   study,   my   role   as   a   researcher   could   be   seen   as   one   of   a   sensory   ethnographer,  and  my  presence  with  the  participants  offered  significant  opportunities  for   reflexive  analysis.  This  analysis  orientated  around  what  practitioners  of  parkour  saw  around   them   compared   to   what   I,   and   the   university   architecture   students   saw   when   examining   urban   spaces.   Both   my   conversations   with   parkour   practitioners   and   what   I   had   read   on   parkour  highlight  the  concept  of  parkour  vision.  This  could  be  understood  as  a  certain  type  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                sharing  videos  this  way  can  be  seen  as  blurring  the  distinction  between  events  that  are  and  are  not   staged  for  the  camera.    

12  _{The  video  camera  used  recorded  the  footage  directly  into  a  digital  format  onto  a  memory  card.  A}  

DV  video  camera  had  been  used  in  a  pilot  exercise  however  there  were  problems  with  the  footage   and  the  decision  was  made  to  use  a  video  camera  that  was  not  tape  based.  Having  the  footage  saved  

of   gaze   that   develops   within   practitioners   as   they   develop   their   methods   of   training   to   overcome  an  ever  more  diverse  selection  of  obstacles.  The  multi-­‐sensory  aspect  of  this  gaze   is  again  intertwined  with  discourse  surrounding  sensory  ethnography.  As  Pink  argues;    

‘The  anthropology  of  the  senses  is  characterised  by  three  main  issues/  debates.  It   explores  the  question  of  the  relationship  between  sensory  perception  and  culture,   engages  with  questions  concerning  the  status  of  vision  and  its  relationship  to  the   other  senses,  and  demands  a  form  of  reflexivity  that  goes  beyond  the  interrogation   of  how  culture  is  ‘written’  to  examine  the  sites  of  embodied  knowing.  (Pink  2009,  p.   15)’  

This   study   can   therefore   be   understood   as   examining   vision   not   simply   as   a   means   for   understanding   how   space   is   ‘written’   but   how   it   connects   in   conjunction   with   the   other   senses,   in   this   case   primarily   touch,   as   an   embodied   form   of   developing   knowledge   of   a   place.   The   tours   thus   create   a   setting   to   test   the   concept   that   practitioners   of   parkour   having  a  certain  way  a  reading  space,  and  creating  meaning  based  on  the  uniqueness  of  a   place.  There  are  however  limitations  with  this  setting  pertaining  to  the  collection  of  sensory   data,  which  will  be  discussed  when  analysing  the  data  that  the  research  provided.