subk.net - maps

Mapsproject is a project by Lori Ann Napoleon taking hand drawn maps she comes across that people make for her of spaces she is new to. "I collect personal maps people draw. one's memory and perception of a place is very personal, so each is a reflection, however small or large, of how the individual connects to their environment: knowing, organizing, and understanding it."

Cartography has two sides: the GIS precision and the psychogeographic personal experience. Lori Napoleon's Mapsproject shows the potential for the psychogeographer in all of us to be revealed in the sketches we make when we try to orient ourselves in an urban environment.

The commentary reveals Napoleon's interest and relationship in each drawing while also raising the issue of what details are truely important in a traditional map. Napoleon has found each map has a focus of its own whereas once the maps are placed together, the collection reveals an aspect of her personality. In this realization, Napolean acknowledges the potential of this collection to be an evolving piece. In her continuing additions to the site, the collection has the ability to reveal not only the places she has been, but her habits within spaces (which it is already revealing her preferences for record stores) and her actions within the spaces; a true psychogeographic examination of herself.