Cartography

The review of our finished project we had to write for this week, along with some group discussion, really helped define some new thoughts I have about the direction of my work. My focus on networks, and mapping those networks as I see them, is definitely becoming more apparent. I'd like to start illustrating patterns, using drawing to better understand how I view all these systems, how they function, where I feel I fit in them, where my viewers fit in them, etc... I spent about 4 or 5 hours drawing, sketching, making thought maps, and another 3 or so reading and researching (maybe more, sometimes I get lost in internet articles and lose track of time...)

loose sketches and thoughts on my whiteboard...these are also continued on paper in my sketchbook

a photo I took in Madagascar and the beginnings of a drawing, experiments on surface

I'm trying to understand what separates systems we openly recognize and construct, and others that remain underground and work much more silently but are still vastly important, so in this unfinished illustration I flipped a tree on its side, what's that space between the branches and the roots' significance?

This week I read an article written by Francis Moore Lappe, in discussion of the Global Food Movement. This quote really struck a cord with me:

"At its best, this movement ecnourages us to 'think like an ecosystem,' enabling us to see place for ourselves connected to all other, for in ecological systems 'there are no parts, only participants'"...

So even that space in that tree illustration above is participating. How is each aspect of my project participating, what is the significance?

After small group discussions during studio time this week, the idea of maps, especially of thought maps, has been pushed to the forefront of my mind. It was suggested that I make some word illustrations of my own, my own thought systems, and this is what I would like to pursue next week. Artist Simon Evans makes just that, he is a cartographer of his personal universe, and while I am not quite as interested in mapping as personal a singular perspective as he is, I like this idea of thought maps to chart the territories of my incessant inner ramblings.

Creator of the Week
Simon Evans

Simon Evans' version of a world map: all his own thoughts and perceptions

Evans use of his many thoughts to make drawings, incredibly detailed and intricate drawings, eases my own thought-filled mind. They are quite absorbing, even if you cannot fully follow his contemplation. I want to try my own take on this, incorporating my own interests, of course, and see how they are all participating in the world and in the realm of my project. Hopefully I'll chart previously unknown territory, find some connections I wasn't aware of, and make some drawings of my new discoveries like some pencil-and-paper wielding pirate. Funny, I never thought piracy would end up in my senior project...