bodies-cities presents the multi-sensory complexity of embodied mapmaking as a layered, interactive virtual reality (VR) palimpsest. A palimpsest is a space that holds multiple layers of knowledge, and this research takes the urban public site of St James Town in downtown Toronto for its exploration. The research process exemplifies the entanglement of people, places, methodology, and methods to reflect the complex nature of embodied spatial knowledge. This entanglement is presented through the application of Karen Barad’s feminist new materialist theory and the apparatus of sensory ethnography for virtual reality. The virtual reality experience draws on the interactive affordances of VR and reconfigures film montage and architecture techniques to present the entangled elements of embodied knowledge emerging from residents’ relationship to the site.

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