critical cartography
Currently there is an explosion of work with similar sensibilities and preoccupations to SLAB.
Although it is difficult to categorize it all, we wanted to share some links in order to give the bigger picture, to inspire, and to commiserate. The group of links on this page involve what we are calling critical cartography, which is currently being explored with passion by geographers, architects, artists, planners, and those defying labels. Our working definition of critical cartography is “mapping the unmapped”: it notices people and things that are overlooked or denied and it usually debunks professionalism with an anti-sleek visual vocabulary and techniques. The categories listed here are more used to break up the page into digestible groups but are invariably problematic i.e. “artists” could be applied to any number of people on the page. We welcome suggestions for more links.
The other page of links we assembled concerns street vending.
urban map projects
Mapping a Whole Darn Year: Flash Map
Image: Meta Mapa: Hand Maps
Crowd-sourced Ways to Experientially Depict NYC
Napkin Sketching of Online Maps
Image: The Geotaggers’ World Atlas #2: London, Eric Fischer
ComplexCity: Hidden Patterns of Urbanity
mapping collaboratives
3C’s: Counter-Cartographies Collective
‘the Hand-Drawn Map Association’
Axis Maps: Cartography, Visualization, Design
Affective Geographies Research Cluster
exhibits
In Celebration of Sidewalk Life (SLAB Rotch Library exhibit)
scholarly mapmakers and books
The Exposed City: Mapping Urban Invisibles
Mei-Po Kwan’s Space-time paths
Margaret Pearce, Indigenous Mapping
Image: Everything Sings: Maps for a Narrative Atlas, Denis Wood
mapping blogs and collections
Strange Maps: Cartographic Curiosities
CartoTalk: A Public Forum for Cartography and Design
Image: Closeup of Chicago Typographic Map
visual artists using cartographic imagery
too many to mention but for a great start, consult Katharine Harmon‘s sumptuous two books
The Saatchi Gallery: Sohei Nishino