Vertiginous mapping provides a stimulating journey in space and time to the mine city of Alkuna of Forgotten somewhere in the North. Artists Rosa Barba uses an interactive – almost real – collage map to navigate through her – almost real – imaginary world. We never really know where we are, when it takes place, what we see, and what we hear, but we really enjoy the experience.
For Vertiginous Mapping, her first web-based project, Rosa Barba draws upon a collection of film, images, texts, and audio that she compiled and created while on a residency in Sweden in the Spring of 2008, weaving together facts and footage with fabricated elements to invite the viewer on a pleasantly perplexing journey. North of the Arctic circle, Barba shot 16mm film in a city that must be relocated due to ground instability caused by massive mining in the area. A large crack in the ground (seen in a film of a computer simulation as a red line dividing the city) will overtake the community in 15 years if the current rate of mining continues. The actual city, renamed by Barba to Alkuna (“Nordic mythology”), was built in the 1950s as a highly-planned, climate-adapted, model community, where building was successfully coordinated with terrain in order to mitigate the cold winds. (http://www.diaart.org/barba/intro.html)
Thanks to Nils Plath forn pointing us to this great project.
ART & CARTOGRAPHY 