Are you a flneur - Admission/Application Essay Example

The Flaneur: Manet: The Painter of Modern Life When I turned sixteen, I developed a new form of entertainment that I have maintained to now. Whenever I find free time, I take to walking through the subway from Manhattan to the west end of New York to explore the neighborhoods. I sometimes walk with a friend and at times I walk alone. Everything that comes ahead serves as a form of entertainment. This includes the swampy marshes in Canarsie and the beautiful forested Van Cortland Park among others.

One day while walking with a fellow classmate I lifted my head above the vehicle, and everybody took off. I have yet to find a reason they ran away. Through this, I have learnt a lot about New York and developed great love for it. At times when walking through the busy streets I am forced to stop at random places to see something new that I have never seen before even if they existed in my earlier trips. This always reminds me of the Paris flaneurs that existed in the 1990’s. They often walked slowly and often stopped at random places to enquire of the residents’ reaction to the residents view their jobs, climate and changing environment.

When I drive through the city I do not experience the culture and people as when I walk through the streets. This is because while driving you miss in the indoor entries and persons playing at the backstreets. Driving also makes you seem like an outsider (Helmreich par. 3). When I am walking quickly people perceive that I am just passing by while when I stroll leisurely through the streets they think that I have reason to be there and hence pay attention to me. Walking through the streets with no aim or direction makes me cover much distance than when I have a planned schedule.

It also makes me go to places I would otherwise not have gone through with a schedule. It also makes me cover greater distances. It is also more satisfying to walk through the streets aimlessly. Benjamin was interested in how Paris became a spectacle. That is why he described Paris as being full of spectacle. This is the same to New York as the city is full of flickering images that strangers cannot imagine to be true. Similarly, New York is full of both wealth and poverty. In the night, one cannot find any public spaces.

Paris does not necessarily change like Benjamin describes it. He was using his artistic prowess to represent the changing time that accompanied the changing way of life of the people that lived in Paris at his time. The changes also described seem to be overwhelming for a lifetime. Furthermore, the flaneur is not a real person but a description of Benjamin. New York does not fit totally in the description of Paris as described by Benjamin. In New York, for example, art exists apart from the larger urban environment.

Works CitedHelmreich , William . "Modern-day flâneur." 2014. aeon. Web. 2 December 2014. .