Mapping

First attempt of my map has been completed. It's A1 size, and made using coloured pens. The lines show the movement of 95 people around the world, in places where they have lived.  The different coloured lines represent the reason behind why they moved. 


Red = University. 
Dark Blue = Study Abroad. 
Dark Green = Improving Living/Travel. 
Orange = Parents Work. 
Brown = School. 
Grey = Illness/Health Reasons. 
Pale Green = Work. 
Pink = Love. 
Pale Blue = Divorce/Family Reasons. 
Purple = War/Terrorism. 
Dark Pink = Political Reason.

I like the way this has turned out, but it is just a start.  I don't like how space is wasted in the areas outside Europe. Maybe I can look at other ways of showing this, maybe focussing/zooming in on europe? Perhaps representing it all in a different way - not on a map. How can I use this information effectively?

The Cortical Homunculus

The Cortical Homunculus is how your brain sees your body from the inside - a very distorted view of how it really is. The more sensitive an area is, the more important the area is, as seen by the brain. This way of mapping is something I will keep in mind, the more populated areas, the more important I may make them seem, perhaps through experimenting with the scale. I'm not sure. It's an interesting concept. 

Charles Minard's chart made in 1869.  It shows the number of men in Napoleon's 1812 Russian Campaign army, their movements, as well as the temperature they encountered on the return path.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minard.png

This is another sort of map I will try and consider, can I use the information I have collected to make a different sort of map, taking away the physical properties of the countries shapes, and distorting them with the information provided?

For the second part of this project, and following a meeting with my Tutor, I think I will work more with the people that have been kind enough to donate information.  Involving other peoples ideas and perhaps objects into my work will take away the control that I have over the final outcome of the work. 

Bouchra Khalili

Selection of videos by Bouchra Khalili's 'Mapping Journey' and 'Straight Stories' which portray individual journeys and narratives of immigration routes that are rarely spoken about.  The videos in 'Straight Stories' have a voice of an individual narrative alongside a video of the place or the border that separates that person from their final destination, for example the Straight of Gibraltar separating Africa from Europe.

With 'Mapping Journey', Khalili travelled to many cities, including Marseilles, Rome, Barcelona and Instanbul, cities full of immigration and movement. She walked around the city with lots of permanent markers in her hand and waited for chance encounters with people, and began conversations with people about where they have come from and where they are going. In the videos, the people would describe their journeys, and draw the shape of it with the markers, on a map. Some of these routes being told are factual, and simple, from one place to another. Others are dreams.

"In the hands of another, less rigorous artist, Khalili’s material could easily become patronizing, riddled with bad politics and oblivious privilege. But her attention to form is crucial. The works are spare, precise and capacious, and yet so much remains unseen, relegated to a space of storytelling that touches harsh politics and demands both empathy and imagination in response. As such, the works are a challenge, like a sea of meaning to navigate, or a coast of understanding to reach." http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/focus-bouchra-khalili/

I like the way that Khalili has used personal stories and it is these that have shaped the way the work has ended up, although still keeping control of the idea and final execution of the work. 

Maybe I will ask to collect items, or more stories from the people that have already helped me. I may also try and meet more Polish people here and ask them for their stories, maybe something will inspire me from this.