The Unsold Stroll by Mushtari Afroz

Situated at the intersection of urban sociology, performance studies and performance art, the interdisciplinary research project titled ‘The Unsold Stroll: Identifying and Disrupting the Performance of Consumerism on King Street West One Foot at a Time’ explores, on foot, forces have helped stage consumerism as the dominant spatial logic on many popular streets in contemporary Toronto—most notably, King Street West. King Street West has increasingly come to embody the logic of consumerism where both representations of space— those conceived by urban planners, developers, and policymakers—and representational spaces— the lived, embodied experiences and everyday performances of those who move through and dwell within the city, work in tandem to transform the street into a curated stage for the performance of consumption. Within this spectacle, alternative narratives—those that fall outside the logic of consumption yet remain vital to the richness and complexity of public space—are pushed to the margins. Yet, it is precisely within this tightly controlled and performative environment of consumption that a reflective and performative walker can carve out temporary ruptures—cracks in the spectacle—through subtle acts of presence, observation, and movement that gesture toward meanings beyond the consumer script. Drawing on Michel de Certeau’s concept of the “pedestrian speech act”, which views walking not merely as bipedalism but as a spatial tactic for ‘speaking’ and ‘writing’ the city, this project engages two research questions: How might the act of urban walking reveal the structural(representations of space) and performative(representational space) mechanisms tied to neoliberal capitalist logic that enforce the logic of consumerism on King Street West? And further, how might such a practice not only expose the underlying ideological forces but also disrupt them, even if only momentarily? Through a research-creation methodology this project unfolds in two parts: unfolds in two parts: Part I positions the researcher as a flâneur-as-detective and flâneur-as-producer—two aspects of urban flânerie popularized by 20th century German cultural critic Walter Benjamin—to stroll, observe, and document the structural and performative mechanisms on the street that uphold the logic of consumerism under the banner of urban revitalization. The documentation is conducted through photography and aphoristic text production. Part II introduces a performative intervention with five dancers who embody the figure of the performative flâneur, using dandyism, spoken word performances, and choreographed movement to momentarily disrupt the consumerist performance of the street, opening up alternative ways of engaging with urban space.

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Situated at the intersection of urban sociology, performance studies and performance art, the interdisciplinary research project titled ‘The Unsold Stroll: Identifying and Disrupting the Performance of Consumerism on King Street West One Foot at a Time’ explores, on foot, forces have helped stage consumerism as the dominant spatial logic on many popular streets in contemporary Toronto—most notably, King Street West. King Street West has increasingly come to embody the logic of consumerism where both representations of space— those conceived by urban planners, developers, and policymakers—and representational spaces— the lived, embodied experiences and everyday performances of those who move through and dwell within the city, work in tandem to transform the street into a curated stage for the performance of consumption. Within this spectacle, alternative narratives—those that fall outside the logic of consumption yet remain vital to the richness and complexity of public space—are pushed to the margins. Yet, it is precisely within this tightly controlled and performative environment of consumption that a reflective and performative walker can carve out temporary ruptures—cracks in the spectacle—through subtle acts of presence, observation, and movement that gesture toward meanings beyond the consumer script. Drawing on Michel de Certeau’s concept of the “pedestrian speech act”, which views walking not merely as bipedalism but as a spatial tactic for ‘speaking’ and ‘writing’ the city, this project engages two research questions: How might the act of urban walking reveal the structural(representations of space) and performative(representational space) mechanisms tied to neoliberal capitalist logic that enforce the logic of consumerism on King Street West? And further, how might such a practice not only expose the underlying ideological forces but also disrupt them, even if only momentarily? Through a research-creation methodology this project unfolds in two parts: unfolds in two parts: Part I positions the researcher as a flâneur-as-detective and flâneur-as-producer—two aspects of urban flânerie popularized by 20th century German cultural critic Walter Benjamin—to stroll, observe, and document the structural and performative mechanisms on the street that uphold the logic of consumerism under the banner of urban revitalization. The documentation is conducted through photography and aphoristic text production. Part II introduces a performative intervention with five dancers who embody the figure of the performative flâneur, using dandyism, spoken word performances, and choreographed movement to momentarily disrupt the consumerist performance of the street, opening up alternative ways of engaging with urban space.
Mushtari Afroz - The Unsold Stroll - 2025
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Research Process Documentation

Table of Contents

1. Abstract

2. Method

3. Fieldwork - Images

4. Final Performance - An imaginary, embodied path of non-consumerism drawn by walking and performing

4. Score-Making

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