Encounterism: The Neglected Joys of Being In Person

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From the history of the haircut to the mystery of The Jetsons, Andy Field is the freshest, most down-to-earth, most constantly surprising (and endearing) explorer of urban life I've read in a while. A great mix of social commentary, experience of the self and some thoughtful insights into our ancestral past.

Why auditoriums, theatres, cinemas (and the act of being-in-person) goes beyond the spatial and visual; and can even be chemical – ‘literally breathing each other in’.

We learned how to build trust, and that invited us to be daring in what we said and what we revealed about ourselves. This brought into question my own hopes/dreams thus far – what they were when I was 10 years old – and it put a time-frame on the next 30 year cycle-of-life.

In this deeply rewarding book, Andy Field brings together history, science, psychology, queer theory, and pop culture with his love of urban life and his own experiences―both as a city-dweller and as a performance artist―to forge creative connections: walking hand-in-hand with strangers, knocking on doors, staging encounters in parked cars.

Very cute concept, and I'm a big advocate for in-person encounters, but the execution wasn't it for me. It allows him to reminisce on the original joys and behaviour patterns of past decades (and millenia) and mix them with the new post-internet, post-pandemic age we live in. A joyful, thoughtful, poetic exploration of everyday human encounters, reframing these overlooked moments as the unique and beautiful encounters that they are. As a 40 year old, I had to work with 10 year olds to help them visualise what their (and my) home town would look like in 30 years time. Andy Field – along with his partner Beckie Darlington – have an international programme of projects which is really helping forge the next generation of architects, planners, urban designers and flaneurs, by asking them what they want from their cities.