The Bureau of Unknown Destinations Offers an Outlet for Your Cabin Fever

Even the best New Yorkers can sometimes feel a little antsy after spending too much time in the city. Perhaps this is why rich folks have their summer houses out in the Hamptons, and there is a new four-story REI in Soho trying to convince people to give hiking and adventuring a chance.

Now, a new Gowanus-based art project called the Bureau of Unknown Destinations is offering "temporary displacements" to people who wish to get out of the city and experience something new.

Here's how it works, according to the website:

"Make a booking for a day's journey, and you'll be presented with a free round trip ticket for a train adventure (along with a notebook and a small, somewhat absurd, task). Begin your day by tearing open a sealed envelope and revealing the mystery of where you will find yourself by noon. Set forth, free of decisions, into the great (or perhaps, in this case, the small) unknown. Test your sense of destiny. Have lunch someplace new."

The project is part of a three-month residency at the Proteus Gowanus studio by artist Sal Randolph. Randolph frequently works around the concepts of the gift economy and social architecture. However, this new project is an experiment in psychogeography, "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Got that? Yeah, neither did we. But if you're aching for an adventure, this might be your best shot.

[keyana.stevens | @keyanastevens]

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