The Flâneur is a term originally coined by Charles Baudelaire, describing a person who walks the city to experience it- exploring the urban space with no concrete objective or destination, but rather a generalized approach to discovering the qualities of the metropolis.
Duality is a key element in the concept of the Flâneur- the explorer of this vein is both outside of the  crowd and simultaneously, encompassed within it. Baudelaire saw the flâneur as central to the formation and evolution of city. Paradoxically, he acted as a creative force within the metropolis, while remaining a detached observer.

The act of spectacle plays a large role on the part of Flâneur- in a sense he is the quintessential protagonist, an independent, mobile observer and actor, moving freely through a complex space; his actions resonate deeply throughout the channels of the city.

This process of non-objective exploration through an urban space has many parallels with how a user interfaces with a digital space- an online community for example. Research being done into communities like twitter, facebook and wikipedia demonstrate the emergence of a demographic of users who browse through these communities in a non patterned, non-hierarchical fashion. Their objective is exploratory and abstract.

Baudelaire never conceived of a Flâneuse, a female equivalent to the Flâneur, the observer/writer/artist traditionally gendered as masculine. Women were considered subjects of the gaze in this context, rather than active participants. A large part of this one sided view can be attributed to the prevailing attitudes of Baudelaire’s time, however as the concept of the Flâneur has been expanded upon by successive writers and theorists, it has largely remained within a masculine context. Similarly, when viewed through the context digital urban exploration, we see a similar bias. While digital communities are inhabited by both men and women, a cursory examination of the more influential of these communities suggests that they are controlled and shaped by men, more so than women. A recent study done by the Wall Street Journal showed that only 13% of the contributors on Wikipedia are female. There are of course, many notable individuals and communities who act as exceptions to this view, and it is difficult to gauge an overall cultural perspective of the gendered qualities of these spaces, there are some general inclinations that emerge from the ether.

The piece, still in process begins with a huge accumulation of surfaces that are divided and masked by the lines of the animation. Each of these surfaces consists of different videos that are overlaid and running on small loops. These videos represent fragmentary pieces of accumulated experiences and knowledge.  As the piece progresses the general content of the videos shift depending on where the main character moves. Gradually as she begins the process of self-introspection she begins to remove them one by one. The pacing of the videos slows down as they are removed; it becomes possible to discern individual videos more clearly. The content shifts as well, transitioning from external images of things she has observed around her to more personal videos, revealing more details about the main character. Finally they all fall away and we are left in a space that contains no videos, just the framework of the animation, a contrast between unfamiliarity and the potential.

Here’s a quick look at some of the key-frames in progress

rough keyframes from jennifer jacobs on Vimeo.