Description
Moving Democracies looks at the possibilities for increased democracy in projects taking place at the intersection of cartography, performance, and art. The fields of cartography and visual art have enjoyed periods of interrelatedness as well as strict delineation throughout history, and recently artists have seemed to explore and utilize the possibilities of mapmaking increasingly in the 21st century. Maps contain a great deal of power to shape viewpoints and control territory, and they possess the ability to both affect and effect space. Our concept of the construction and composition of space has changed dramatically in the past century, and therefore the map— one of the most direct and vital manners in which to represent space—has also needed to change. Cartographers and artists alike have therefore been turning many cartographic paradigms in on themselves during the modern and postmodern eras, challenging viewers and their preconceptions in the process. More narrowly, as the field of visual art has come to adopt social engagement and participatory practices, artists have found a link between their work in a public space and the effect on such a space. This thesis follows many of the Marxist and feminist arguments made by previous scholars such as Henri Lefebvre and Irit Rogoff, who believe that space can be constructed as an imposition to some while at the same time favoring others. The thesis takes as its premise that our man-made spaces are expressions of the socio-economic gaps and political divides that inform them, but also that increased participation and democracy in the processes surrounding the construction of place can create more relevant spaces and a greater number of empowered citizens. It further assumes that maps, and the processes of cartography, are important documents to examine in relation to our understanding, and use, of space. This thesis, then, argues that particular works of art can be relevant, accessible, symbolic and practical tools for providing grounds for such practices of participation and spatial democracy to occur. Moving Democracies analyzes four artists who have constructed works specifically geared towards attracting the participation of the public in the creation of a cartographic document. Yumi Janairo Roth's Meta Mapa; Natalia Calderon's Tracing Passers By; the Institute for Infinitely Small Things' The City Formerly Known as Cambridge; and Pedro Lasch's Latino/a America all serve as illustrations and examples of the ways in which works of art that directly engage publics can create a more empowered citizenry while also aiding in the composition of better, additional maps that complement existing and officially sanctioned sets of spatial knowledge.
