Text and photos by Elena Siemens, CC-BY-NC 4.0 2024
This bold map of Beijing by QiongJie He (Crystal) stood out unapologetically in the stack of submissions both because of its large size, and, even more unexpected, its bright pink color. Is Beijing pink? Or, is this the artist’s own take on it – “ma vie en rose”?
Participants posing as discerning art experts with my off-the-cuff Tate Modern map.
With this My Map sequel (My Map: Scenes from a Pop-Up) we took inspiration from the rebellious Situationist International group, who advocated re-drawing Métro ads in Paris – a prohibited activity in the 1950s, as well as today. For our popup, staged at the historical Old Arts building, we were instructed to use masking tape to hang the maps. Our improvised DIY maps, along with that garish green tape, helped to transport the space to a new age open to experiment and play.
“Art is anything you can get away with,” Marshal McLuhan argues (McLuhan). We took this dictum to heart. Kyle Zwarich (top row) employs Japanese calligraphy in his set of bird’s-eye images of Phuket. Zoe De Jonge (bottom left) combines pencil drawings and a Polaroid of the U of A campus photographed from her bedroom window. Kailin Hu (bottom right) offers a playful pen-drawn map of Foshan. While it might skip over some prominent landmarks, her map will help you find the best place to go for Hey Tea.