Kris Harzinski "From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map…" (Princetown Architectural Press)

From Here to There is a diverse collection of hand-drawn maps, ranging from scribbles on scrap paper — the kind of map done quickly to give directions to a friend — to impressive works of art.
From Here to There is divided into six sections:
“Direction Maps” (those quick, scribbled maps of directions);
“Found Maps” (literally: these are discarded maps people found);
“Fictional Maps” (maps of made-up places, incidentally one of my favourite things ever);
“Artful Maps” (maps that are, as Harzinski says, “more elaborate than other maps in the archive, or works that use cartography as a point of reference” — these wouldn’t be out of place in a Katherine Harmon collection);
“Maps of Unusual Places” (a small collection of “non-geographic” maps, such as Marilyn Murphy’s “Humira Injections,” a map of injection sites on the artist’s body); and
“Explanatory Maps” (that explain concepts rather than give directions).
In each case, the real interest is often the story behind the map (each one is captioned) rather than the map’s intrisic cartographic or artistic virtues — though several maps show real achievements in art or surprisingly good cartography. In its caption, we learn that Lola Pellegrino’s “I Heard You Broke Up with Your Boyfriend” caused all kinds of trouble. But “Bike Map of Wedding” (a district in Berlin) and Chris Collier’s “Remembered Map of a Childhood World” are extremely sharp and detailed work. Shane Watt’s amazing “Empatheia” is given a full-colour two-page spread.
I love the stories that accompany the art and ephemera . . . And I realize that my ability to draw a map has suffered in this age of Google maps and instantly available smartphone directions. I totally am going to challenge myself in this area as a result of the work in this volume.

From Here to There is a diverse collection of hand-drawn maps, ranging from scribbles on scrap paper — the kind of map done quickly to give directions to a friend — to impressive works of art.
From Here to There is divided into six sections:
“Direction Maps” (those quick, scribbled maps of directions);
“Found Maps” (literally: these are discarded maps people found);
“Fictional Maps” (maps of made-up places, incidentally one of my favourite things ever);
“Artful Maps” (maps that are, as Harzinski says, “more elaborate than other maps in the archive, or works that use cartography as a point of reference” — these wouldn’t be out of place in a Katherine Harmon collection);
“Maps of Unusual Places” (a small collection of “non-geographic” maps, such as Marilyn Murphy’s “Humira Injections,” a map of injection sites on the artist’s body); and
“Explanatory Maps” (that explain concepts rather than give directions).
In each case, the real interest is often the story behind the map (each one is captioned) rather than the map’s intrisic cartographic or artistic virtues — though several maps show real achievements in art or surprisingly good cartography. In its caption, we learn that Lola Pellegrino’s “I Heard You Broke Up with Your Boyfriend” caused all kinds of trouble. But “Bike Map of Wedding” (a district in Berlin) and Chris Collier’s “Remembered Map of a Childhood World” are extremely sharp and detailed work. Shane Watt’s amazing “Empatheia” is given a full-colour two-page spread.
I love the stories that accompany the art and ephemera . . . And I realize that my ability to draw a map has suffered in this age of Google maps and instantly available smartphone directions. I totally am going to challenge myself in this area as a result of the work in this volume.
no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 08:05 pm (UTC)*HUGS*
no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 09:57 pm (UTC)I live pretty far away, Southern Calif, US
no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 10:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-19 11:00 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2015-01-20 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-20 12:38 am (UTC)Great review!
no subject
Date: 2015-01-20 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-20 09:02 am (UTC)I love those fictional maps at the beginning of books :)
no subject
Date: 2015-01-21 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-01-22 09:41 am (UTC)I was imagining what sort of a map I might do on my way home today. You never know, it might get drawn and posted one day :)