This web site is dedicated to the Working Group on Art & Cartography. This working group, which is part of the International Cartographic Association (ICA), has been created in August 2008 to explore the increasing relations between art and cartography, and to stimulate new forms of interaction.
The goal of this web site is to provide an environment in which artists, researchers, architects, cartographers and citizen in general can have access to different sources of information related to the interaction between art & cartography.
The background image of the header of this blog, is a picture of the installation entitled “Reformed world (for Johannes Stabius)” created by artist Ruth Watson for the Art and Cartography Symposium, Vienna, 1-2 Feb., 2008 (made from 120kg of snow melting salt, 7 metres diameter).
November 28, 2008 at 12:06 pm |
Hello
I am working on a dissertation that considers if in an age of increased access to spatial data does the technological complexity of modern GIS now exclude artists from contributing to the development of cartography. I would welcome the thoughts of your members.
Eamonn
January 20, 2009 at 1:46 pm |
On the contrary, I believe that the rigidity of database-driven GIS platforms ensures that future cartographic developments will more likely come from visual artists originally. Later their visualization innovations may be emulated in the GIS environments.
Ron Wild, cARTographer
February 1, 2009 at 7:00 pm |
Both yes and no. Visual artists usually have little or no understanding about how the system of signs have to be developed for proper cartographic communication. From my experience ‘technical’ people achieve even better results due to relationship between database and sign system logics. Ideally, such a technical person ought to have visual design skills or consult an artist but not to the point of violating rules of semiotics for just a ‘better view’. Once I was very seriously offered by a graphic designer to rotate an integrated map of Europe 90 degrees clockwise to achieve a better composition balance
you do not mean such innovations, do you?
March 3, 2009 at 10:58 am |
Thanks for the comments so far
Eamonn