Non places [os Não Lugares]
Marc Augé defines non places as having no identity, no history and no urban relationships. Non-places are temporary spaces for passage, communication and consumption; the motorways seen from car interiors, motorway restaurants/service/petrol stations, large supermarkets, duty-free shops and the passenger transit lounges of world airports.
Non-places are contrary to places. They represent the decline of the public man and the rise of the self-obsessed man. Non-places are such due to their solitary arrangement, shielded by pin and credit-card numbers, as well as passwords that create safety as well as solitude and alienation.
When I first got to Japan - and even while I was traveling - I was constantly reminded of this definition I had read about 5 years ago. It stuck it with me. Waiting. Poising under my skin of thought. As soon as I got to Tokyo, it flourished. almost taking me by assault. That's why I'm starting two new tags - places and non places - because I believe that, even though Augé is partially right, I also believe that the world - as well as places - are composed by multicoloured shades of grey. Not by mere one sensed biased labeled black OR white.
Tokyo might be crawling with non places. But I believe there also places inside this multicity metropolis. And once I get my camera (probably this weekend) I'll try and find them for you, so we can share both realities. Nothing is comprised of a single lensed view. Still, I'll not limit it to Tokyo, and we'll actually start of by sharing some of Portuguese places.
...climbing on down. The world is a set of perfectly paired opposites, claimed Parmenides. Each one carefully fitting into self-contained preconceptions of right and wrong. good and bad. Others called it Yin and Yang. Black and White. Good and Evil. But then came those who asked if weight could be weightless and lightness unbearable. Came those who looked at all the shades of grey and the world sprawling within them. Still, in Japan, most of those haven't came around. Conditioned. tagged. pre-defined. Logical. Accepting. Abiding. And Kundera by my side still pondering on this unbearable lightness of being that here, most don't seem to understand. Because they haven't even reached the point of even posing the question. Silent acceptance. On the way to work. On the way from work. In their homes. Outside themselves. Japan is this silent sea of ever-moving unquestionability.
