The tyranny of distance and the nuisance of proximity
Royal Roads University, Canada
Drawing from my ethnographic work on ferry-dependent isolated communities, off-grid homes, seaplane mobilities, and wilderness travel, in this presentation I will reflect on the opposing forces characterizing the mobilities of remote places. Remoteness, I argue, is an outcome of performance: a drama-filled struggle between distance and proximity. I present my argument through a series of stories (narrated through spoken word, photography, and video).
Over the last ten years my thirst for remoteness (admittedly coupled with a great deal of aversion to urban life) has taken me to some of the planet's farthest reaches. From perfectly driveable ice roads carved out of Arctic seas to isolated Northwest Pacific communities where the only boat in or out is perceived as the main source of fried chicken, and from backcountry huts on New Zealand's South Island where the hum of voracious sand flies is loud enough to drown out the enthusiasm of overly chatty German backpackers, to out-of-the way Galapagos islands dwelled by more camera-ready species than any city zoo, my fieldwork has allowed me to understand remoteness as the complex and nuanced outcome of multiple and often contradictory mobility constellations.
Dr. Phillip Vannini is an accomplished ethnographer, filmmaker and author who has conducted research on BC Ferries, off-grid living, small island cultures and communities, wildness and wilderness, everyday life, the cultural aspects of the human senses, food and culture, and sense of place. Currently he is researching the cultural dimensions of UNESCO World Heritage natural sites, across both Canada and the world. Recently Vannini published Off the Grid: Re-Assembling Domestic Life, the culmination of three years of research into the lives of people across Canada who live off the grid, a project that led to the production of the film Life off-grid.