Sight, site, cite

2003-31katabatic-web.jpg

An article by Will Papaenheimer, about remapping public, informational and social space, cites this image, and this site (see below).

Another citing can be seen on Networked Performance, a research blog that focuses on emerging network-enabled practice.

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The image marries sight and sound – a drawing made in Antarctica with a sound form of my voice saying “katabatic”.

In the afternoon of 25 February 2002, I drew Mount Henderson, a nunatak just south of Mawson. I drew it in my journal, in the very moment of being there, with cold hands exposed, clutching a pencil. It reflects a moment of pleasure I experienced in Antarctica. Looking at it brings back all the feelings of the moment – the power and strangeness of a particular place and time.

Reflecting on the drawings I made in Antarctica after my return, I chose words to reflect the ideas and feelings attached to the moments of their making. I had lots of drawings, and chose one from each day of the journey to make 42 days (42 digital prints).

For the image above I had chosen a word from the Antarctic Dictionary (Hince 2000) that most characterised that moment of seeing and responding: ‘katabatic‘.

I chose the word because of its meaning – ‘Of great strength’ – and because of its strange look and sound.

There was no Katabatic wind that day. You don’t go out venturing when there is! But you can imagine it here, invisibly bearing down from the plateau.

I love that we can share our responses to places and times through the internet, to map our world.

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Tuning in Rorschach Maps
Will Pappenheimer
Department of Fine Arts
Pace University
41 Park Row
New York, NY 10038
wpappenheimer@pace.edu
http://www.willpap-projects.com

Abstract.

Many contemporary artists are working with strategies to remap public, informational and social space. Their processes often involve setting up a prescriptive, algorithmic and participatory work that yields an unknown product. What can we observe about the results? What is audience reception of these works? In addition to visiting historical precedents in performance and music, this paper will explore how real-time Internet statistical, geographic and textual mapping has become available for both practical and recreational purposes and how new media artists are engaging these methods to test the possibilities of situational mapping. Two models of analogy will be explored, the Rorschach test and the musical mode of tuning.

Keywords. Statistical Chart, Geographic Map, Cartography, Mapping, Radical Cartography, Information Aesthetics, Map Art, Memory Mapping, Graph, Graphing, Data Mining, Graphic Display, Visual Information aesthetics.

This article will appear in “Transdisciplinary Digital Art: Sound, Vision and the New Screen,” a volume of Springer’s prestigious CCIS (Communications in Computer and Communication Science) series, edited by Randy Adams and Steve Gibson (Interactive Futures, University of Victoria, BC, Canada) and Stefan Muller Arisona (Digital Art Weeks, ETH Zurich, Switzerland).

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On Monday 15 Feb Will Pappenheimer writes:

Lisa-

Sorry to answer so late on this. Just got back from a trip. It’s fine to post the below. I don’t think I am supposed to send the paper out yet till the books published but it looks like you didn’t include the link which is good.

Thanks for sending the higher res image and I’ll look for the permission in the mail.

Your work on Antartic looks wonderful. Am of course fascinated with it also and included its influence in my latest project – Invisible Infuenced:

http://transition.turbulence.org/Works/invis/index.html

Also was over in Aussi this past summer visiting the wonderful creations of your Bowerbirds. Now looking for ways to return!

WP