The Space Between: spatial autopsies as an alternative approach for analysing localities

Abstract

ince localities are primarily relational and contextual, the higher degree of plasticity it holds over physical space inadvertently requires innovative methods to capture the dynamic relationships and intricate networks operating in localities, as well as implicit ones sustained across multiple sites. Existing literature consistently emphasizes geographical unevenness in the depth and breadth of ongoing neoliberal restructuring strategies, made discernible by their variegated implementation and impact on space. It is therefore on ground level, where the imposition of extra-local forces on the everyday lives of individuals is either embraced or resisted, can the various conditions supporting the constitution (or reconstitution) of a locality be particularized and scrutinized. By adopting a context-led approach to frame a reading on localities, it becomes possible to plot each locality’s unique relational matrix and the extent of its sphere of influence. Moving image, together with cinematically-derived methodologies formulated for advancing studies on space, have proven to be effective for exploring complex phenomena in almost aspects – political, social, economic, historical and cultural. Films can support a spatial approach to understanding localities on a qualitative level: embedded within mere functional information, there exists an additional dimension which, through proper excavation, offers a heuristic means for exploring the depth of lived experience. To illustrate, an autopsy is performed on an establishing shot of an old coffee shop featured in the Singapore documentary film Old Places (2011) to reveal discernible layers of space that can be used to structure a reading on the properties of that locality.