The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography

Normally I am a born sucker for books like this. But this one is too diffuse in its collection and arrangement to inspire a positive emotional response. I love the art in good cartography but what I found here was a haphazard arrangement of art with only a sporadic reference to maps let alone cartography.

In the end I decided it was the title, “The Map as Art…” that built up my hopes for something that simply was not to be – it should have been titled, “Artists explore the theme of maps”. Rebrand it with that on the cover and I think it might have warranted three and a half stars in my book, as it is this curmudgeon only rates it two stars for shattered expectations.

Arsty-fartsy. I'm not ignorant, but I don't have the true sensibility of an artist, a person who wants to explore philosophical ideas through creation of something startling. So some of these seem like they might be cool if we could actually see them performed (if appropriate), or at least in a gallery, instead of reduced into a book. But most left me cold. I did like the little essays which often gave enough insight to help me appreciate the intent of the author more. But stuff like seeing the shapes of the Hawaiian Islands in lichen on a rock and so labeling them doesn't mean art to me. That's just seeing Jesus in a potato chip, sorry.

This superbly illustrated book presens a vast collection of map-related art, exploring the works of well-known as well as obscure artists with the same level of detail. Whether as the intrinsic aesthetic element or as a political statement, maps shown in this book all have a story to tell. At the end, I was nevertheless a bit disappointed, since most art pieces somewhat lack that very special combination of relevant data, precision and pure gorgeousness that sends my map-lover's heart racing...

Interesting and amusing, but not as fascinating as I had hoped. Since I am a map freak more than an art freak, the problem may be me -- really loved "Strange Maps"

This book reveals that there can be a great overlap between art and maps. This coffee table book revels a large number of artists for whom there is an intersection between maping and their vision put on paper or sculpted. The book is truly imaginative and it is really absorbing to see what they have come up with.

The entire family read this to varying degrees. Inspiring and fascinating look at how people map their geographies . . . whether they be political, geological, or personal. Loved the more in-depth essays (the boy skipped those).

"Geographers submit to a tacit agreement to obey certain mapping conventions, to speak in a malleable but standardized visual language. Artists are free to disobey these rules. They can mock preoccupation with ownership, spheres of influence, and conventional cultural orientations and beliefs." (p. 10)

"Creative geographer and author Denis Wood writes, "Map artists...claim the power of the map to achieve ends other than the social reproduction of the status quo. Map artists do not reject maps. They reject the authority claimed by normative maps uniquely to portray reality as it is, that is, with dispassion and objectivity." " (p. 13)

"Artists chart singular perceptions rather than assert meaning for any collective truth." (p. 15)

[These show more are map artists, not cartographers per se.] show less