Providence Initiative for Psychogeographic Studies

Providence Initiative for Psychogeographic Studies [PIPS] or as it sometimes stands for People Interested in Participatory Societies is a small collective of artists in Providence, Rhode Island which promotes artistic and social investigations in psychogeography.

The group states: "In order to create understanding and transformation of the world we must create adventures. Society’s emancipation will not be found in the existing structure of the world, but in the cracks and lost spaces. PIPS works to facilitate and create actions and adventures that exercise human potential in new and inventive ways. Our intention is the creation of a better world through community and action."

PIPS grew out of a small group looking to investigate the urban environment in detail. Since summer of 2001, many socio-spatial experiments have been undertaken against rural, suburban, and urban backdrops. A comprehensive list of their projects can be found on their website, pipsworks.com [http://www.pipsworks.com/projects.html] .

Major PIPS projects include Provflux, the Urban Agricultural Unit, and Crosswalk:

*Provflux is a weekend-long event dedicated to artistic and social investigations in psychogeography first held in 2003. Part festival and part conference, it brought together visual, performance, and new media artists, along with writers, urban adventurers and the general public (see [http://www.pipsworks.com/contact/provflux.html] ). It is also linked to Psy-Geo-Conflux a similar event based in New York.

*The Urban Agricultural Unit (UAU) is a mobile greenhouse designed for educational, artistic, and commercial purposes. Constructed from a discarded shipping container, the structure’s innovative design is an example of the adaptive reuse of materials within the constraints of an urban setting. Further details and photographs are here [http://www.pipsworks.com/uau.html] .

*Crosswalk is a publication dedicated to further investigations of psychogeography, experimental public art, critical architectural theory, and all practices in between. All issues are available online by clicking here [http://www.pipsworks.com/crosswalk.html] .

References

* [http://www.projo.com/lifebeat/content/projo_20060530_provfest.128aeac6.html Providence Journal May 30 2006 - That's an acronym for the Providence Initiative for Psychogeographic Studies; although sometimes it stands for People Interested in Participatory Societies]
* [http://www.brown.edu/Students/INDY/archives/2005-04-14/articles/arts-goldstein.d_pips.htm College HIll Independent April 14 2005]
* [http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2005/04/15/all_over_the_map/ Boston Globe April 15 2005]

External links

* [http://www.pipsworks.com PIPS] Official site.
* [http://www.pipsworks.com/crosswalk.html Crosswalk]
* [http://www.pipsworks.com/uau.html Urban Agricultural Unit]
* [http://www.pipsworks.com/contact/provflux.html Provflux]