Words on Walls

Starting my reading list for this project this week has been a lot of fun.  The first book on my list is The Map As Art: Conteporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katherine Harmon.  This book features beautiful pictures of pieces by dozens of artists exploring maps as artwork.

In her introduction, Harmon writes, “Is there any motif so malleable, so ripe for appropriation, as maps?  They can act as shorthand for ready metaphors: seeking location and experiences dislocation, bringing order to chaos, exploring ratios of scale, charting new terrains” (10).

The projects featured in Harmon’s collection range from the lighthearted (meticulous maps of Europe and South America created from laundry strewn on the floor), to the more serious, like the work of Alban Biaussat, pictured below.  Biaussat captured the “green line” marking the border between Israel and Palestine.  By using large green balls and long sheets of bright green ribbon, Biaussat demonstrates visibly where the invisible green line lies today.

From the Al-Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art Website, photograph by Alban Biaussat

I would love to use this project as a jumping off point for some of the visual arts work that I will complete in the spring.  We’ll see!