The Great Queen Street Psychogeographic Walk

On Sunday September 30th Spacing Magazine and the Toronto Psychogeography Society present the Great Queen Street Psychogeographic Walk, part of the run up to the Walk 21 conference in Toronto.

The walk begins at 2pm at the Queen, King and Roncesvalles intersection (in the space by where the pedestrian bridge leads over to the lake). We will then stroll together in a completely unorganized organized walk along the length of Queen Street to the RC Harris Filtration Plant in the Beach, where people may disband or retire to a public house nearby. The Facebook event listing is here.

Some psychogeographic walks wander and drift though the city randomly. The Great Queen Street Walk will be linear — you’ll get to experience a perfectly straight line through the city. Many of us know parts of Queen Street, but it and Toronto feel entirely different when you walk the whole thing in a straight line.

About this walk:

• -Two people may show up or 1000 people — either extreme or in between will result in a unique trip through Toronto.
• -The walk will not stop, but move along steadily. If you see something in a store window it’s likely you could go in and look at it then catch up at any point. If you are with friends, use your mobile devices to keep track of where the walk is.
• -The walk won’t have an official leader once we start, it will just move along. After a few blocks the group may stretch out a block in length, perhaps more. This is alright. Feel free to move in and around the group whenever you want. Obey the traffic signals — this isn’t critical mass.
• -Instead of a marathon, think of this as a mobile cocktail party where your conversations will bounce from person to person as we move along Queen Street (supply your own discreet portable cocktail if you desire — or even pop into the occasional bar along the way for a nip if you’re quick about it). It’s likely you’ll meet new people along the way, and perhaps others will share their bits of knowledge about places along queen.
• -If you must leave before the end, that’s just fine, but do it quietly without a big production as to not make other people think the walk should be over. Leaving is like sneezing, it’s catchy.
• -The walk will probably take 3 or 4 hours, depending on the general pace. If you feel like moving slower, go ahead, you know where we’ll be.
• -Bring and invite whoever you want.

For those of you out all night walking for Nuit Blanche, there is no better ambulatory Hair of the Dog than a long Sunday walk with some fellow Torontonians.

Illustration by Melissa Jane Taylor