I caught up with BC recently in a follow up to his presentation as part of the affective atlas project here at RMIT. He introduced me to open street map
OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you.
Along with some other resources including the Pan America Institute of Geography and History based in Mexico, all part of a discussion on the community providing their own information towards the mapping process. Domesday project is an example of both community and specialist documentation. From wikipedia:
It included a new ‘survey’ of the United Kingdom, in which people, mostly school children, wrote about geography, history or social issues in their local area or just about their daily lives. This was linked with maps, and many colour photos, statistical data, video and ‘virtual walks’. Over 1 million people participated in the project. The project also incorporated professionally-prepared video footage, virtual reality tours of major landmarks and other prepared datasets such as the 1981 census.
Another reference Association of American Geographers and Chris Perkin‘s research and Subversive Cartographies. The essay ‘Radical Cartography: Artists making activist maps‘ is a useful reference towards my current interest in this field. From the abstract:
Radical cartography is a practice that uses maps and mapping to promote social change, and is part of a cultural movement that cuts across boundaries of art, geography, and activism. This paper will present examples of cartographic work by artists, architects, and collectives who create maps to raise awareness of social justice issues. These maps are both artworks and part of a larger activist research and practice.
The other person who reappeared from the videoblog scene was Daniel Liss (pouring down) and his project Seven Maps
Other links:
Book Review – An Atlas of Radical Cartography
Making maps DIY cartography – subversive cartographies post
International Cartography Conference Chile – themes/submission
emotional cartographies – five examples
map my london
ArcInfo GIS software
jet studio GIS software
Franco Moretti, Graphs, Maps, Trees, Verso: London, 2007
