Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and Urbanism

by Nato Thompson

A photo of a secret CIA prison. A map designed to help visitors reach Malibu’s notoriously inaccessible public beaches. Guidebooks to factories, prisons, and power plants in upstate New York. An artificial reef fabricated from 500 tons of industrial waste. These are some of the more than one hundred projects represented in Experimental Geography, a groundbreaking collection of visual research and mapmaking from the past ten years.

Experimental Geography explores the distinctions between geographical study and artistic experience of the earth, as well as the juncture where the two realms collide (and possibly make a new field altogether). This lavishly illustrated book features more than a dozen maps; artwork by Francis Alÿs, Alex Villar, and Yin Xiuzhen; and recent projects by The Center for Land Use Interpretation, the Raqs Media Collective, and the Center for Urban Pedagogy.

The collection is framed by essays by bestselling author Trevor Paglen, Jeffrey Kastner, and editor Nato Thompson.

Genres: Geography, Nonfiction, Maps, Art, Research, Cartography

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2009

About the author

NATO THOMPSON is an author and curator. He has written two books of non-fiction Culture as Weapon: The Art of Influence in Everday Life (2017) and Seeing Power: Art and Activism in the 21st Century (2016) both with Melville House Publishing. His self-published fiction book, Marshsong came out in February 2019. He has also edited and written for many art catalogues. He works as the Sueyun and Gene Locks Artistic Director at Philadelphia Contemporary.

Reviews

[Uroš Đurković · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eksperimentalna geografija je skup naučno-umetničkih praksi koju je 2002. ustanovio Trevor Paglen i, u skladu sa svojim nazivom, predstavlja pre poziv za istraživanje nego odgovor. Objedinjujući pejzaže, laboratorije, kartografiju i analizu podataka, eksperimentalna geografija se nalazi u stalnoj međuzoni između različitih oblasti znanja koja za krajnji cilj ima novu, sveobuhvatniju interpretaciju čovekove interakcije sa zemljom. Susret poetike i didaktike, geologije i urbanizma, oslonjen na Deborovu psihogeografiju, predstavlja zanimljiv poligon za buduća teorijska ustrojstva. Jedna od ključnih ideja eksperimentalne geografije je da je kultura prostorna projekcija – naše saznanje sveta je neizbežno vremenski i prostorno uslovljeno i, zapravo, u izvesnom smislu saznanje o prostoru proizvodi sam prostor, time što ga upodobljuje ljudskoj percepciji. Oni koji se bave eksperimentalnom geografijom imaju na umu da je čitanje kulture nekad posredno, a nekad i sasvim neposredno – čitanje prostora, te da bez uvažavanja ove dimenzije kulture ostajemo uskraćeni za nešto važno i, zapravo, sasvim očigledno. Trevor Paglen navodi i da eksperimentalna geografija ima snagu da pitanje „šta je umetnost” preobrazi u „kako je umetnost (moguća)?”. Shodno tome, zaključuje Paglen nadovezujući se na Benjamina – kao što je nemoguće izmestiti se iz prostora, tako je i nemoguće izmestiti se iz politike – sva kulturna produkcija je na, ovaj ili onaj način, politička i savremena umetnost nam može pomoći u razvijanju nove subjektivnosti koja će pulsirati u odnosu na savremenost. Nešto što uzimamo zdravo za gotovo ima dalekosežne političke implikacije, kao što je karta sveta. Retko ko svima poznat raspored dovodi u pitanje, a on je samo jedan od mogućih. Potrebe za vizuelnim predstavama prostora vezane su kako za sferu praktičnog, tako i za sferu dominacije. Dobar primer za to je Grinički meridijan, čiji je poseban status jedino utemeljen prvenstveno u odnosu na politiku. Simboličke predstave, kao i samo naizgled vanpolitički naučni termini, presudno oblikuju naše živote i osvešćivanje toga nije lak, ali je podsticajan zadatak.

Bez obzira na nestalnost priloga, knjiga obiluje zanimljivim podacima i primerima koji bi bili bliski ne samo onima koji se bave ekološkom humanistikom, već i likovnim umetnostima. Posebno zanimljiv podatak je da je Ilana Halperin uvidela da se tektonske ploče pomeraju istim tempom kojim rastu nokti na nogama. Tek nakon čitanja sam shvatio odakle je Bjork uzela stihove za pesmu Mutual Core.

[fire_on_the_mountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great primer for the amorphous, evolving and interdisciplinary space where the practice of art intersects with the study of geography. I particularly got a lot out of the opening essays by Thompson and Paglen, which I feel are rather essential to understand the rest of the work, especially since you are denied the context of their intended presentation.

It's hard to adjudge an art book, about a past exhibition, highlighting a wide breadth of work, when I may find some of the individual projects therein to be less compelling than others. Which I do. But the concept and execution of this book are unimpeachable.

[David]

This is a primarily artistic, pretty loose, and fascinating approach to geography. Most of the work in the book (presented like an exhibition catalog to a gallery show) is conceptual and quite intellectual revolving around humanity's relationship to space and how we are defined and how we actively can redefine our habitats.

The book was full of inspiring concepts of how to reconfigure our perceptions of locations. One group presented makes awesome diagrams of the production of an iPod accompanied by the labor history of each stop along the production chain. Another group in L.A. develops alternative brochures which discuss the environmental impacts of various developments. And another group gives bus tours to mining sites and shows in order to put people in touch with the production of pieces in our everyday lives.

[Monster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently too art-po-mo for my blood. I found the book flashy and lacking in substance; I don't want to insinuate that the artists/authors are not critical, thinking people, but I was repeatedly distracted by this over-indulgent presentation that seems to portend unselfconscious privilege.

[stephen]

very interesting and purty too.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative, recommended overview of artists interacting with geography.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome project: http://www.ikatun.org/kanarinka/it-ta...