PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY Provflux 2005 bristles with art and ideas BY IAN DONNIS

Most visitors to the Providence Place Mall are probably unaware that the site was once home to a state prison. By distributing postcards to shoppers this weekend that depict the background of the space, artist Weston Davey will explore the social and cultural impact of the history and architecture of the location. In a statement, Davey says, "This project will be both an intervention and an unconventional tactic for educating the public about the history of the mall location."

The intervention at the mall represents just one facet of Provflux 2005, a weekend-long art event in Providence with a focus on psychogeography, the investigation of hidden landscapes — of the atmosphere, histories, actions, and characters that change environments. A detailed schedule of events and other information can be found at www.pipsworks.com

John J (sic) McGurk, 26, is a member of the Providence Institute for Psychogeographic Studies, the galvanizing force behind Provflux. He describes psychogeography, which has its roots in the ’60s and offers sincere inquiries into questions of place, as a response to the cynicism of the art world. In describing the event, organizers from PIPS say that Provflux, part festival and part conference, will bring together visual, performance, and new media artists, as well as writers, urban adventurers, and the general public. All of the events taking place throughout Providence are free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

Part of the guiding spirit for Provflux, the second annual such event, can be seen in this statement on the PIPS’ Web site: "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."

In a practical sense, this involves an array of projects. Artist D. Jean Hester, who will prepare an intervention from CUBE2 (230 Westminster St.), an impromptu gallery space donated by Cornish Associates, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 28, will "simply say ‘hello’ to every person who I pass. The response from each person will affect the direction and speed of my walk." A mobile urban research laboratory will enable people "to gather ’round to discover new urban agricultural techniques and later tell ghost stories under a starry sky." Brooklyn artist Sto, who has no knowledge of Providence’s streets, will pedal "ignorant bike rides."

An opening reception for Provflux will be held Friday, May 27 from 6 to 10 p.m. at CUBE2, with a keynote address by the founders of the New York collective Glowlab. On Saturday, May 28, a 6 p.m. virtual banquet will take place at the Steel Yard, 27 Sims Avenue (suggested donation: $5). And a series of lectures on architectural theories, coalition building, urban discoveries, and other ideas will take place at the Steel Yard from 1-6 p.m. on Sunday, May 29.

Provflux 2005, a spin-off from a similar event in New York City, comes at an interesting juncture in Providence’s evolution. On one hand, the city remains alluring in a culture in which "people are tired of seeing Kmart and Wal-Mart when you drive across the country, because you don’t know where you are anymore," says PIPS member Meredith Younger, 24. At the same time, the civic removal of stickers from posts on Westminster Street points to a rising specter of sterility. "Since Providence is in such flux, the artists and free thinkers should jump in and say we don’t want another Boston," says McGurk. "Keep it rough around the edges."