Transport Commun



Transport commun (les rêveries d’un passager solitaire)
Pour les gens éveilles, il n’existe qu’une monde, qui est commun, alors que dans le sommeil chacun se détourne vers un monde qui lui est propre — Héraclite

	There is not an image more representative of the confinements and incivilities of daily life than that of commuters crushed together inside a bus. Travelling in cages with others, enslaved to tyrannical schedules, and personally culpable for every irregularity in a system that despises you- to take a bus, or a metro, is for many a calumny… and for those who have the freedom to choose other forms of submission to the quotidian, it is something unspeakably worse. To live in contemporary society, within its grand cities, to persist within its unfathomable complexity and to find one's place amidst its interminable flux, to be familiar with its dehumanizing forces, its seductions that promise only frustration, and to the generalized insomnia that is central to its pathology, the question cannot fail to arise: how to resist? How to remain human? How to sleep, how to dream... how to awaken, truly? Over time such questions lose their interrogative force. They becomes words on a wall we pass hundreds of times every week, words forced to kneel and beg for alms, words forced to sell what is not their own while at the same time renouncing their proper origin, their homeland— liberty. How to resist… my strategy in Transport Commun, as it was in Pain Proust and in the Encyclodesiropedia, was to seize an element of our unbearable daily life, an element that is a part of our degradation, and then use it against itself. A moment I must endure, or even a moment I must simply pass, mindlessly, is thereby transformed into the material of a creative act. Repeating this act every day is sufficient to transform the world in a non-trivial way. Liberty opens its eyes, says hello, and asks your name… a true homecoming. And homecoming is the repressed desire of every traveller and every worker and every vehicle and every road or rail line that, together, comprise our transport commun.

			The following is a record of bus and metro trips (RATP; Paris, France) taken each day during 2013. The number of each bus and metro line is indicated for each day, resulting in a code. These codes are added together to give a sum at the end of each month. The total for the entire year is indicated below, and functions as a numerical representation of my passage through the year. I have also graphically represented my movements through the system of public transportation in Paris for each month and for the year in total (click here), which can be interpreted as a rudimentary circulatory system of my year... 2013.
	Rules (regles du jeu): 1. Every day for the entirety of 2013 note the number of each metro line (1-14) and each bus that I take. This produces a code for each day. 2. Add each daily code, giving a sum for each month. 3. Trace my route for each day on a map of Paris, therby producing a graphical representation of my movements for each month. see here 4. Add every daily code for the entire year. This grand total will represent all my movements in 2013. I will then use this code and devise an itinerary based on correspondences dictated by the series of numbers (described in detail below).

	janvier	février	mars	avril	mai	juin	juillet	août	septembre	octobre	novembre	décembre

1	58	663838	382218686	0	186	4	0	1238	3879638	38689	8614	3838
2	487886	487186	3891886	283886	384	0	0	38278686	5838	38838	6996	3838
3	38218686	4438	68127	0	2838	438	0	88686	38218686	27878686	68144	3838
4	38278686	3838	3838	6886	384	389638	0	67864	384	3838	3838	3827878686
5	4884638686	438	3838186	66	38	3838	0	382786113	3838	412	3838	388686
6	438	3838	384	0	48821109696	3863186	0	384	388914186	9	388686	3887866
7	3838	384	388686	38	38	66819	0	3827	38189	962738	3827468	3896886
8	38	38	388686	3838	427274	0	0	383827878686	4383838	3838	6688686	3838
9	38218686	39754	38842388638	38868888	44	96	0	66886	3838	382721878686	3884898686	3838
10	38384	3887186	38	3838	66	383869	0	8786	382787864	38218686	38	38278686
11	3886186	12186	3838	3838	48686	33838	0	384	3821868638	3821878686	3838	384
12	688686	384	38	38212727	49632	2787186	0	3838	38	4121078686	38	38186
13	4	38279558	3838	69688638	6638	382786	0	38278686	0	38186	3868	383875886
14	3838	3838	384883	610106	3844	96383827869	0	38273838	0	38386	3838	46866886
15	3838	3838105886	66	4	3838	964	688686	384	0	3838	388686	4
16	3838	66886	38186	42738	3838	4272769	6872186	384	0	38	44	0
17	3838474	38	3827738	38	38	962738	58129538	6	0	382163186	38	0
18	66	384	38278686	3838	0	3838	388686	0	0	6686	382786	0
19	38864661	383886	3838	3838168	0	38216719	3814	6	0	38638686	3838	3821
20	0	38	38878686	38	0	96383827878686	0	382163186	0	0	3838	69
21	3838	388686	3821878686	38121	3838	38276319	4	3838	0	382738	38896	0
22	384	38896886	4	0	384	0	3887886	38278686	0	388686	66886	0
23	3838	27384123	0	4	384	91963838	38216886	38896886	0	38217886	6886	0
24	38388686	6	0	0	383838	384	388686	38389838	68838386816	388786	3838	0
25	382186866	38383838	3885	93	3863721556	41888644	3868	43841138	384	388686	3838	96
26	486	3838	4	962127	4	968866886	3821186	388686	38854	38639295898686	38278786	6886868
27	438	3838	0	661	382138	0	383838	3838	388686	939	382187869	66886
28	3838	3863867638	0	384	913838	0	386318638	38868618338	68	962738	3886	3838
29	38		163827868621	382784686838	3827124	0	448538	388638	438384	388686	6886	38186
30	3838		0	3838	3838	0	38213838	388638	3882	38382144	68	3838
31	3821186		38		383838		38384	4		38216886		43

total	5471588413	7850872675	206964361990	382937259639	52691278242	96481404071352	537804662	423737100444	73479362049	39030566487659	4317283645	4312519839

total 2013		136674269990609

		the code above represents the total of all my travels in 2013. I have considered this code to be an intinerary from which I devised the following series of correspondences... a final voyage which encompassed , in some way, all of 2013. (click on image for details )

	the itinerary:
		13	Gaité -> Montparnasse Bienvenue
		6	Montparnasse Bienvenue -> Place d'Italie
		67	Place d'Italie -> Carrefour du Chateaudun
		42	Chateaudun - Lamartine -> Rapp - La Bourdonnais
		69	Rapp - La Bourdonnais -> Voltaire - Léon Blum
		9	Voltaire -> Robespierre
		9	Robespierre -> Nation
		6	Nation -> Trocadéro
		9	Trocadéro -> Bonne Nouvelle

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