TITLE
Do You Know The Way - World Map 1310 - 2235
Screen-printed three color map book.
This map, like all maps, exists in opposition to the ideal map, a correct diagrammatic depiction of the world around us. This is the purpose of cartography, but it is an impossible aim. This idea was a starting point in the construction of this book.
Here is the other statements I wrote while trying to come up with a 50 word summary;
- This map, like all maps, exists in opposition to the ideal map; a map that would depict, in detail, the world around us. This is the defined purpose of cartography, but it is an absurdist, impossible aim. In the construction of this map I gathered up elements of historical fact together with the culturally apocryphal and formed them back together within the constructed constraints of this folded map book. In the combinations of these elements, this map hopes to recognises and celebrates the impossible and the absurd.
- This map, like all maps, exists in opposition to the ideal map; a map that would depict, in detail, the world around us. This is the defined purpose of cartography, but it is an impossible and absurd aim. In its combinations of historical fact with the culturally apocryphal, this map-book celebrates attempts at the impossible and statements of the absurd, recognising them as ways through the pessimistic narratives of our world today.
- Umberto Eco In his essay ‘On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire on a Scale of 1 to 1’ makes it absurdly clear the hopelessness of including everything in representation. This together with the particular way of folding was the starting point for my book
- In common with many other maps, this map wants to understand what is really going on. Not acknowledged by modern maps, but nevertheless common to this map, other maps of today and maps of the past, is narrative
Narrative is an important feature of this map-book's operations, however in this map book the narrative has been abstracted in order to cope with the competing ideals of today. In fact all maps today are abstract, they just don't acknowledge it. Hidden behind the facade of longitude and latitude is a manic imagined apparition formed from many conflicting ideas and power bases.
This map attempts to bring an element of that apparition to the forefront.
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