Theory of the Drive

One of the basic situationist practices is the drive [literally: "drifting"], a technique
of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Drives involve playfulconstructive
behaviour and a!areness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different
from the classic notions of "ourney or stroll.
#n a drive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their !or$
and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and
let themselves be dra!n by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find
there. %hance is a less important factor in this activity than one might thin$: from a
drive point of vie! cities have psychogeographical contours, !ith constant currents,
fi&ed points and vorte&es that strongly discourage entry into or e&it from certain
'ones.
(ut the drive includes both this lettinggo and its necessary contradiction: the
domination of psychogeographical variations by the $no!ledge and calculation of
their possibilities. #n this latter regard, ecological science despite the narro! social
space to !hich it limits itself provides psychogeography !ith abundant data.
)he ecological analysis of the absolute or relative character of fissures in the urban
net!or$, of the role of microclimates, of distinct neighborhoods !ith no relation to
administrative boundaries, and above all of the dominating action of centres of
attraction, must be utili'ed and completed by psychogeographical methods. )he
ob"ective passional terrain of the drive must be defined in accordance both !ith its
o!n logic and !ith its relations !ith social morphology.
#n his study *aris et l+agglomration parisienne ,(ibliotheque de -ociologie
%ontemporaine, *.../., 01234 %hombart de 5au!e notes that "an urban neighborhood
is determined not only by geographical and economic factors, but also by the image
that its inhabitants and those of other neighborhoods have of it." #n the same !or$, in
order to illustrate "the narro!ness of the real *aris in !hich each individual lives . . .
!ithin a geographical area !hose radius is e&tremely small," he diagrams all the
movements made in the space of one year by a student living in the 06th
7rrondissement. 8er itinerary forms a small triangle !ith no significant deviations,
the three ape&es of !hich are the -chool of *olitical -ciences, her residence and that
of her piano teacher.
-uch data e&amples of a modern poetry capable of provo$ing sharp emotional
reactions ,in this particular case, outrage at the fact that anyone+s life can be so
pathetically limited4 or even (urgess+s theory of %hicago+s social activities as being
distributed in distinct concentric 'ones, !ill undoubtedly prove useful in developing
drives.
#f chance plays an important role in drives this is because the methodology of
psychogeographical observation is still in its infancy. (ut the action of chance is
naturally conservative and in a ne! setting tends to reduce everything to habit or to an
alternation bet!een a limited number of variants. *rogress means brea$ing through
fields !here chance holds s!ay by creating ne! conditions more favourable to our
purposes. 9e can say, then, that the randomness of a drive is fundamentally different
from that of the stroll, but also that the first psychogeographical attractions discovered
by drivers may tend to fi&ate them around ne! habitual a&es, to !hich they !ill
constantly be dra!n bac$.
7n insufficient a!areness of the limitations of chance, and of its inevitably
reactionary effects, condemned to a dismal failure the famous aimless !andering
attempted in 013: by four surrealists, beginning from a to!n chosen by lot:
9andering in open country is naturally depressing, and the interventions of chance are
poorer there than any!here else. (ut this mindlessness is pushed much further by a
certain *ierre ;endryes ,in <dium, <ay 012=4, !ho thin$s he can relate this
anecdote to various probability e&periments, on the ground that they all supposedly
involve the same sort of antideterminist liberation. 8e gives as an e&ample the
random distribution of tadpoles in a circular aquarium, adding, significantly, "#t is
necessary, of course, that such a population be sub"ect to no e&ternal guiding
influence." /rom that perspective, the tadpoles could be considered more
spontaneously liberated than the surrealists, since they have the advantage of being
"as stripped as possible of intelligence, sociability and se&uality," and are thus "truly
independent from one another."
7t the opposite pole from such imbecilities, the primarily urban character of the
drive, in its element in the great industrially transformed cities those centres of
possibilities and meanings could be e&pressed in <ar&+s phrase: "<en can see
nothing around them that is not their o!n image> everything spea$s to them of
themselves. )heir very landscape is alive."
One can drive alone, but all indications are that the most fruitful numerical
arrangement consists of several small groups of t!o or three people !ho have reached
the same level of a!areness, since crosschec$ing these different groups+ impressions
ma$es it possible to arrive at more ob"ective conclusions. #t is preferable for the
composition of these groups to change from one drive to another. 9ith more than
four or five participants, the specifically drive character rapidly diminishes, and in
any case it is impossible for there to be more than ten or t!elve people !ithout the
drive fragmenting into several simultaneous drives. )he practice of such
subdivision is in fact of great interest, but the difficulties it entails have so far
prevented it from being organi'ed on a sufficient scale.
)he average duration of a drive is one day, considered as the time bet!een t!o
periods of sleep. )he starting and ending times have no necessary relation to the solar
day, but it should be noted that the last hours of the night are generally unsuitable for
drives.
(ut this duration is merely a statistical average. /or one thing, a drive rarely occurs
in its pure form: it is difficult for the participants to avoid setting aside an hour or t!o
at the beginning or end of the day for ta$ing care of banal tas$s> and to!ard the end of
the day fatigue tends to encourage such abandonment. (ut more importantly, a drive
often ta$es place !ithin a deliberately limited period of a fe! hours, or even
fortuitously during fairly brief moments> or it may last for several days !ithout
interruption. #n spite of the cessations imposed by the need for sleep, certain drives
of a sufficient intensity have been sustained for three or four days, or even longer. #t is
true that in the case of a series of drives over a rather long period of time it is almost
impossible to determine precisely !hen the state of mind peculiar to one drive gives
!ay to that of another. One sequence of drives !as pursued !ithout notable
interruption for around t!o months. -uch an e&perience gives rise to ne! ob"ective
conditions of behaviour that bring about the disappearance of a good number of the
old ones. ,04
)he influence of !eather on drives, although real, is a significant factor only in the
case of prolonged rains, !hich ma$e them virtually impossible. (ut storms or other
types of precipitation are rather favourable for drives.
)he spatial field of a drive may be precisely delimited or vague, depending on
!hether the goal is to study a terrain or to emotionally disorient oneself. #t should not
be forgotten that these t!o aspects of drives overlap in so many !ays that it is
impossible to isolate one of them in a pure state. (ut the use of ta&is, for e&ample, can
provide a clear enough dividing line: #f in the course of a drive one ta$es a ta&i,
either to get to a specific destination or simply to move, say, t!enty minutes to the
!est, one is concerned primarily !ith a personal trip outside one+s usual surroundings.
#f, on the other hand, one stic$s to the direct e&ploration of a particular terrain, one is
concentrating primarily on research for a psychogeographical urbanism.
#n every case the spatial field depends first of all on the point of departure the
residence of the solo driver or the meeting place selected by a group. )he ma&imum
area of this spatial field does not e&tend beyond the entirety of a large city and its
suburbs. 7t its minimum it can be limited to a small selfcontained ambiance: a single
neighborhood or even a single bloc$ of houses if it+s interesting enough ,the e&treme
case being a staticdrive of an entire day !ithin the -aint5a'are train station4.
)he e&ploration of a fi&ed spatial field entails establishing bases and calculating
directions of penetration. #t is here that the study of maps comes in ordinary ones as
!ell as ecological and psychogeographical ones along !ith their correction and
improvement. #t should go !ithout saying that !e are not at all interested in any mere
e&oticism that may arise from the fact that one is e&ploring a neighborhood for the
first time. (esides its unimportance, this aspect of the problem is completely
sub"ective and soon fades a!ay.
#n the "possible rende'vous," on the other hand, the element of e&ploration is minimal
in comparison !ith that of behavioral disorientation. )he sub"ect is invited to come
alone to a certain place at a specified time. 8e is freed from the bothersome
obligations of the ordinary rende'vous since there is no one to !ait for. (ut since this
"possible rende'vous" has brought him !ithout !arning to a place he may or may not
$no!, he observes the surroundings. #t may be that the same spot has been specified
for a "possible rende'vous" for someone else !hose identity he has no !ay of
$no!ing. -ince he may never even have seen the other person before, he !ill be
encouraged to start up conversations !ith various passersby. 8e may meet no one, or
he may even by chance meet the person !ho has arranged the "possible rende'vous."
#n any case, particularly if the time and place have been !ell chosen, his use of time
!ill ta$e an une&pected turn. 8e may even telephone someone else !ho doesn+t $no!
!here the first "possible rende'vous" has ta$en him, in order to as$ for another one to
be specified. One can see the virtually unlimited resources of this pastime.
Our loose lifestyle and even certain amusements considered dubious that have al!ays
been en"oyed among our entourage slipping by night into houses undergoing
demolition, hitchhi$ing nonstop and !ithout destination through *aris during a
transportation stri$e in the name of adding to the confusion, !andering in
subterranean catacombs forbidden to the public, etc. are e&pressions of a more
general sensibility !hich is no different from that of the drive. 9ritten descriptions
can be no more than pass!ords to this great game.
)he lessons dra!n from drives enable us to dra! up the first surveys of the
psychogeographical articulations of a modern city. (eyond the discovery of unities of
ambiance, of their main components and their spatial locali'ation, one comes to
perceive their principal a&es of passage, their e&its and their defences. One arrives at
the central hypothesis of the e&istence of psychogeographical pivotal points. One
measures the distances that actually separate t!o regions of a city, distances that may
have little relation !ith the physical distance bet!een them. 9ith the aid of old maps,
aerial photographs and e&perimental drives, one can dra! up hitherto lac$ing maps
of influences, maps !hose inevitable imprecision at this early stage is no !orse than
that of the first navigational charts. )he only difference is that it is no longer a matter
of precisely delineating stable continents, but of changing architecture and urbanism.
)oday the different unities of atmosphere and of d!ellings are not precisely mar$ed
off, but are surrounded by more or less e&tended and indistinct bordering regions. )he
most general change that drive e&perience leads to proposing is the constant
diminution of these border regions, up to the point of their complete suppression.
9ithin architecture itself, the taste for driving tends to promote all sorts of ne!
forms of labyrinths made possible by modern techniques of construction. )hus in
<arch 0122 the press reported the construction in ?e! @or$ of a building in !hich
one can see the first signs of an opportunity to drive inside an apartment:
")he apartments of the helicoidal building !ill be shaped li$e slices of ca$e. One !ill
be able to enlarge or reduce them by shifting movable partitions. )he halffloor
gradations avoid limiting the number of rooms, since the tenant can request the use of
the ad"acent section on either upper or lo!er levels. 9ith this setup three fourroom
apartments can be transformed into one t!elveroom apartment in less than si&
hours."
,)o be continued.4
A.@ DB(OCD ,012D4
)C7?-57)OC+- ?O)B
0. ")he drive ,!ith its flo! of acts, its gestures, its strolls, its encounters4 !as to the
totality e&actly !hat psychoanalysis ,in the best sense4 is to language. 5et yourself go
!ith the flo! of !ords, says the psychoanalyst. 8e listens, until the moment !hen he
re"ects or modifies ,one could say detourns4 a !ord, an e&pression or a definition. )he
drive is certainly a technique, almost a therapeutic one. (ut "ust as analysis
unaccompanied !ith anything else is almost al!ays contraindicated, so continual
driving is dangerous to the e&tent that the individual, having gone too far ,not
!ithout bases, but...4 !ithout defences, is threatened !ith e&plosion, dissolution,
dissociation, disintegration. 7nd thence the relapse into !hat is termed +ordinary life,+
that is to say, in reality, into +petrified life.+ #n this regard # no! repudiate the
/ormulary+s propaganda for a continuous drive. #t could be continual li$e the po$er
game in 5as ;egas, but only for a certain period, limited to a !ee$end for some
people, to a !ee$ as a good average> a month is really pushing it. #n 012:012= !e
drived for three or four months straight. )hat+s the e&treme limit. #t+s a miracle it
didn+t $ill us." ,#van %htcheglov, "5etter from 7far," #nternationale -ituationniste E1,
p. :D.4