Labyrinths
A study on Topopoetics (The Poetry of Place), and a Futures Tool
Commissioned during Joss’ 2025 medical leave, these labyrinths have no clear objective and no end in sight, as they turned out to be made by someone who abandoned a course in labyrinth design. They remain a strange collection of paths that require effort and promise luck.
Topopoetics is a field combining geography and poetry, focusing on how literature creates, interprets, and inhabits a "sense of place". It explores the interaction between the poet and their environment, treating poems themselves as constructed spaces or "places" on the page that shape meaning.
Labyrinths can be the physical layout or the blueprint of stories. In speculative design we need a space for the story to happen, so perhaps these labyrinths provide that topopoetic (place-making) structure.
1. Topopoetics (The Poetry of Place)
We are treating these labyrinths as topopoetic artifacts. Because they were created by someone who abandoned the labyrinth design course, they aren't efficient or "correct"– they are poeticspaces where the effort of navigation is more important than the destination.
2. Diegetic Prototypes (Objects from Time)
If each labyrinth is seen as a found object from another timeline, they are prototypes of a stalled era (a hiatus/health leave era).
3. On: Storytelling
Unlike a What-if scenario, a labyrinth is concrete. We start at point A and try to reach point Z. Through these strange paths that require effort we are telling a story through movement rather than just words. The "story" is the struggle of the traveler inside the unfinished design.
4. On: Traveler-Driven Scenarios
If the labyrinths have no clear objective and no end in sight, it is up to the travelers to determine where these paths lead. We hope that travelers are operating the narrative architecture to see if they can find the luck promised at the end of the path.
Some of the labyrinths:
︎ The Scent Labyrinth:
Location: A public garden or park; someone's private garden optional.
Labyrinth: Follow a path while holding a single flower. Do not smell the flower yourself, but periodically and gently offer the scent to the air. Upon reaching the end (the center or a boundary), close your eyes and deeply inhale the flower's scent for the first time.
︎ The Sound Labyrinth:
Location: A park or public space with perhaps at least one other person.
Labyrinth: Find a small object with a distinct sound, like a bell or a maraca. Place the object somewhere along the path you'll follow. Walk the labyrinth, finding a way to make the object's sound without touching it, such as by tapping the ground nearby, by waving a fan, or by asking a stranger to do it. The unpredictable nature of the sound and the city noise will add a layer of chance to the labyrinth. No one is allowed to record the sound.
︎ The Stone Labyrinth:
Location: A public landmark with many visitors or many public steps.
Labyrinth: Before entering the labyrinth, pick up a stone. Carry the stone with you. Upon reaching the center, exchange the stone with someone who has arrived before you. The center is a recognizable focal or olfactory point. Decide if you want to stay there (unlimited waiting time) to get the stone of someone else.
Access all the Labyrinths on Patreon by clicking here.
Labyrinths icon by Kristina Margaryan for The Noun Project.
