LydiaSng_AnnotatedBibliography

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
Annotated Bibliography
Abram, David. “The Ecology of Magic.” The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage
Books, 1996. 3 – 29. Print.
The Ecology of Magic explores the phenomena of magic and spirituality in Eastern Asia.
As David Abram has a background as a slight of hand magician from America he
continues his studies and practice amongst shamans in Indonesia and India. Through his
experience and research, Abram defines the differences between culture in Western
and the East. Cultural assumptions may cause an inability to focus upon anything other
than the realm of human technology by being attached to artificially man made
environments (parks, zoos, programs on TV) rather than experiencing the wild unknown
itself. By living in Asia, Abram has gathered a sense of awareness regarding one’s space
with nature -­‐ land and animals. The article questions the shifts in culture, how a
nonhuman nature can be intensely perceived, experienced and acknowledged which,
according to Abram differs greatly from cultural attitudes in the west.
De Certeau, Michel. ‘Walking in the City.’ The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1984.
My final paper is about Jenni Schine’s work in the Vancouver Walk Collective. As
Schine’s sound walk focuses on the relationship between the mind and the body walking
through the space of the city, I thought De Certeau’s writing was most appropriate. De
Certeau structuralizes the experience of a walker in the city. Walking in an urban space

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
can provide one with a calling to explore the unknown, their body guiding itself through
the environment of a city by absorbing the sights and sound. De Certeau characterizes
how our memory distinctly links a person to a place and a time, an aspect I am
approaching in my final paper.
Morgan, Stuart. “Suite Venitienne.” Frieze 3 (1992): n. pag. Web.
The peculiar and controversial work of Sophie Calle’s Suite Venitienne is observed in this
article from Frieze 3. Suite Venitienne follows Calle as she tracks a man through Paris
who she met previously before. She dedicates herself to photographing him and
shadows the man who she calls Henri B from place to place. Through this practice Calle
finds herself having conflicting thoughts, as a person and an artist. She is not amorous
towards Henri B. but treats him as a subject as apart of her practice. Stuart Morgan
analyzes Suite Venitienne and the psychological, making comparison towards Vito
Acconi’s Following piece that has similarities to Calle by putting oneself as risk or
discovery.
Papalia, Carmen. “A New Model for Access in the Museum.” Self-­‐published. May 2013.
Print.
Carmen Papalia’s writing is on exactly what the title states, proposing a new model
towards one’s experience in a museum. Papalia discusses the lack of accessibility and
the sense of detachment when it comes to viewing work, as there are many restrictions
one must abide to under the social setting of an art gallery. Papalia writes from personal

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
experience on their own issues with accessibility (losing their vision) and how they
became to use it as a focus by public perceptions around disability through their works.
Leading a “blind” walk of 50 people holding hands with their eyes closed, Papalia
allowed participants to recognize the limitations created by relying on sight. The article
brings awareness that a gallery space is not only an experience of sight and artwork
itself but also of the other senses such as “comforting feeling of a cozy gallery, the smell
of an ancient collection and the chatter of excited visitors.”
Plumwood, Val. “Surviving a Crocodile Attack.” Utne Reader. July-­‐August 2000. Online.
Val Plumwood writes about surviving a terrifying encounter with a saltwater crocodile
while canoeing in Australia’s Kakadu National Park. Plumwood was plunged into water
held by the suffocating grasp of a crocodile’s legs and being able to escape through her
own will and strength. The near death experience has provoked Plumwood to re-­‐
evaluate her self, her connections to others and the natural world. Gender roles and
sexuality are taken into account, the notion that media has made the wild no place for
women. Through Plumwood’s experience she discusses Australia’s (and Western
society) media stereotype on women being seemingly helpless against the wilderness
and being rescued by a heroic masculine figure which proves to not be the case as she
was capable of surviving using her own power as a woman.
Roelstraete, Dieter. “A Line Made By Walking.” Richard Long: A Line Made by Walking.
London: Afterall, 2010. 1-­‐16. Print.

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
Dieter Roelstraete introduces the reader to conceptual walk/land artist Richard Long
and his work, A Line Made by Walking. Long walked back and forth in a straight line in
the countryside which left a track then photographed it. This work was a jump-­‐start for
Long’s artistic career. The writing touches upon the beginning of his walk origins and his
education in the fine arts. In regards to the process of Long’s A Line Made by Walking,
Roelstraete makes references to philosopher, Jean-­‐Jacques Rosseau who states that a
full meditative state is made through walking and ceases once one stops their walk.
Rebecca Solnit is also mentioned, further discussing the properties of walking as a state
aligning the body, mind and world.
Schine, Jennifer. "Sensory Studies." MOVEMENT, MEMORY & THE SENSES IN
SOUNDSCAPE STUDIES –. SENSORY STUDIES, 23 June 2010. Web. 04 June 2013.
.
As my final paper is based on Schine’s sound walk of the Vancouver Walk Collective, I
thought it would be appropriate to include writing by her. Schine talks about the
practice of sound walking itself. Schine states how a sound walk is produced by actively
listening to the sounds of one’s environment while passing through the space. Schine
talks about the main focus of her writing is to question the relationship between the
body and mind, through sound we can evoke the physical and emotional to connect
with our surroundings. She cites the studies of composers and anthropologies that
further elaborate on our relationship through movement with our social environment.
This reading is a primary source that will be contributing to my paper.

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
Solnit, Rebecca. “Open Door.” A Field Guide to Getting Lost. New York: Penguin, 2005. 3-­‐
25. Print.
Solnit speaks upon experiences of becoming lost in the everyday. The origin of the word
lost is discussed as well as the idea of being immersed into the unknown to become lost.
The role of the artist is mentioned to explore the unknown, to be lost and broaden work
through it. The mental and emotional state of being lost is mentioned by personal
accounts. Solnit describes being lost to have two meanings. Having the desire to be lost
or having the unfamiliar appear creates moments of discovery and newfound self-­‐
identity. While losing things is about the familiar (physical objects, relationships, etc.)
disappearing. Solnit directs the reader towards looking to the unknown and becoming
lost in experience.
Solnit, Rebecca. “Paris or Botanizing on the Asphalt.” Wanderlust. New York: Penguin,
2000. 196-­‐213. Print.
Rebecca Solnit writes on Walter Benjamin’s experience and fascination with the Parisian
city lifestyle in the early 1900s. Paris is a city where one can lose themselves within the
city streets. The idea of the flaneur is introduced as one (a male figure) who takes in the
city and observes their surroundings through the experience of strolling. The flaneur is
an aloof, visual consumer who resists industrialization and the consumption of goods.
The aspect of Haussmannization is discussed in this reading, identifying the reform in

Lydia Sng – HUMN 305 – June 11/2013
Paris that took place during the late 1800s to 1900s. The urban planning caused social,
economical and architectural change throughout the city.
Sisson, Mark. ‘The Power of Daydreaming: Why You Should Let your Mind Wander.’
Mark’s Daily Apple: Primal Living in the Modern World. 25 July, 2012. Web. 06
June. 2013.
Sisson’s article on daydreaming speaks upon the human cognition and the affects it
undergoes while in the act of walking. My final paper focuses on Jenni Schine’s sound
walks that connect our mind, body and environment; Sisson mentions this phenomenon
as well although this article does not regard sound but rather it focuses the process of
our mind and memories. The reflective state of being in a daydreaming can be acquired
through walking. A reverie opens up the mind and imagination; it is critical as reflection
contributes to the development of the mind and one’s emotional well-­‐being.