Le flâneur on Modern Technology

Le flâneur: A flâneur

A flâneur is a man who strolls or wanders around the streets, taking in the sights and sounds of the city, but does not have a plan or destination in mind. He is aloof in character, and wants to be on the cutting edge of style. With goals to see different sites to see, but no plan, he wanders aimlessly.

Source: The Odyssey (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/10-words-sound-better-french)

Because A flâneur enjoys being part of a crowd, and stylish, it is most likely that if he lived in our modern day, he would be investing in some of technology’s best and newest products. Here are 3 digital objects drawn from the perspective of a 19th Century French flâneur.

Smartwatch with Infinite Time: A flâneur wanders without a specific time or concept of time in mind. Thusly, when he looks at a watch, the time is irrelevent, and almost infinite.

Original Image Links: https://image.freepik.com/free-vector/flat-smartwatch-template_1057-426.jpg http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/c/ca-mets1.gif

GPS with No Direction: A flâneur wants too see different sights but does not have a destination. So, when he looks at a navigation device, he doesn’t see destinations, he only sees direction. From there, he can wander in which ever way he chooses.

Original Image Links: https://billmuehlenberg.com/res/uploads/2016/05/gps-1.jpg https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/travel-tourism-blondie-songs-sign-road-road_sign-dcr0322_low.jpg

Smartphone Calendar App without Plans: A flâneur would probably be on a smartphone, as most people are. His calendar App however would not measure time as months, weeks, or days, it would only measure ‘today’. Because he has no specific time in mind, and wanders the streets without a plan or purpose, his calendar would not be full of appointments/reminders.

Original Image Link: http://blog.vyte.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Default-calendar-on-iPhone.png

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Description

A flâneur is a person who walks the streets of the city in order to observe, and take in contemporary life. For this assignment we were asked to create 3 digital objects from the perspective of a flâneur. From the description of a flâneur, and research, I devised 3 objects in which they might use- a smartphone, a smartwatch, and a navigation system. These objects all had to be altered because flâneurs do not have a plan, destination, or time frame in mind when they wander. Thusly, all of these objects had to be time, direction, and plan-free. ___________________________________________________________________