Maps and Knowledge
1) In reading about the creation of the community maps I was thinking not only about the production of space, but also the production of knowledge. In this article we see that one’s experience, age and gender are linked to whether or not you are viewed as having legitimate knowledge or not. Farman discusses the ways in which certain objects are thought to be particular representations of knowledge, for example the objectivity and neutrality that maps are often imbued with, as well as the supposed objectivity of satellite cameras. Both articles bring up questions around what knowledge is considered legitimate and who is thought to be knowledgeable about particular spaces.
2) Farman’s description of feeling lost when his phone wasn’t giving him correct information was something that resonated with me, albeit in a very different way. I am a bird-watcher, and am used to being able to identify the birds around me, by sight and by call. I have often described the sensation of being in a different country where I can’t identify the birds singing around me, as feeling “lost” or as though I have lost one of my senses. Or as Farman puts it, “I feel as though one of my lenses to the world has been broken” (36). I can hear the birds, but I do not know what they are. Knowing the wildlife around me is such a part of my experience of space, that it is jarring when I lose that connection to a place. There is very specific knowledge and embodied experience that doesn’t get translated onto maps, as is shown by Sletto, which is why the process of map-making is as important as the map itself. How can we better translate/represent these knowledges?
3) The reading on participatory map-making and the surveillance camera made me think of Collective Action For Safe Spaces (formerly Holla Back DC)’s map of street harassment. Found here: http://www.collectiveactiondc.org/programs/view-the-street-harassment-map/. Not only does it have pins at each of the spots where harassment has occurred, but also the personal experience/story of the person who experienced it. Do any of you know of other collective maps out there?