Victoria Reiter – Looking Outwards 12 – Project Precursors

In this Looking Outward post I investigated some interactive maps that exist.

Nancy Milholland’s San Francisco Public Art Map

Something I’ve recently spent some time learning and thinking about is that geography and cartography are not static things — they are fluid and can be utilized to show more than just topography and physical location, but culture and thoughts.

I found this in the San Francisco Public Art Map designed by Nancy Milholland.

Milholland uses a combination of official sources, such as the municipal planning department and arts commission, the SF Mural Arts program, and unofficial sources like Flickr, Instagram and YouTube. This allows her to document not only art officially recognized by the government, that was perhaps governmentally or privately funded, but also art erected more casually and personally.

I think what makes this project so powerful is the community-aspect of it. People within the community can contribute to finding and updating where there is art in the city, creating a richer knowledge-base than a more formal assessment that would exclude many less officially created art pieces. In this way, the map can grow and develop and reflect the people who live within its geographic area.

Ai Wei Wei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors interactive map

The second project I took inspiration from was Ai Wei Wei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors interactive map.

This map allows viewers to explore Ai’s New York City-wide exhibition online by clicking around to the different art pieces he has set up around the city. After selecting one, you can read more about where the inspiration for the piece is from (each piece represents a portrait of an immigrant or refugee who came to America at different points in history and from different places). The map also links to directions so you can physically go and see the piece in person.

This map is very personal also, because the pieces reflect the stories and experiences of individuals. Each place is not just a physical location, but a story.

I like the idea of personalizing a map, and having it reflect something about yourself, your community, etc., and I hope to use this inspiration for my final project.