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Mapping practices and the cartographic imagination

DOI:10.1057/s41286-020-00111-y
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Simonetta Moro
Simonetta Moro
Simonetta Moro
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Abstract

This paper claims that maps and the “act of mapping” have the capacity to disrupt symbolic horizons concerning representations of space constructing aesthetic, political and subjective worldviews. These worldviews constitute modes of subjectivity that challenge the notion of the Cartesian subject, and put forward a “situated” concept of subjectivity. Through an intertextual analysis of Deleuze and Guattari, and Heidegger’s late essay “Building Dwelling Thinking,” Moro pursues a possible redefinition of mapping as assemblage or gathering point of the fourfold. This redefinition in turn indicates the becoming-space of a narration that constitutes particular kinds of world views and subjectivities. The lines between narration, mapping, and mythology are further blurred in recent art projects, where through the ‘cartographic imagination’ artists deliberately deconstruct the rational appearance of the map to expose current political impasse in a globalized world.
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Vol:.(1234567890)
Subjectivity (2020) 13:298–314
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41286-020-00111-y
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Mapping practices andthecartographic imagination
SimonettaMoro1
Accepted: 2 November 2020 / Published online: 3 December 2020
© Springer Nature Limited 2020
Abstract
This paper claims that maps and the “act of mapping” have the capacity to disrupt
symbolic horizons concerning representations of space constructing aesthetic, polit-
ical and subjective worldviews. These worldviews constitute modes of subjectiv-
ity that challenge the notion of the Cartesian subject, and put forward a “situated”
concept of subjectivity.Through an intertextual analysis of Deleuze and Guattari,
and Heidegger’s late essay “Building Dwelling Thinking,” Moropursues a possible
redefinition of mapping asassemblageor gathering point of the fourfold. This redef-
inition in turn indicates the becoming-space of a narration that constitutes particular
kinds of world views and subjectivities. The lines between narration, mapping, and
mythology are further blurred in recent art projects, where through the ‘cartographic
imagination’ artists deliberately deconstruct the rational appearance of themap to
expose current political impasse in a globalized world.
Keywords Mapping· Cartography· Place· Deleuze and Guattari· Heidegger·
Contemporary art· Bouchra Khalili· Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Intro: place andsubjectivity
This paper intends to highlight the mutual intersections of space and intersubjectiv-
ity in various forms, which can be traced back to the ‘spatial turn’ of poststructuralist
theory (Warf and Arias 2009; Lévy 2015) combined with a hermeneutic reading of
the phenomenon of ‘mapping’ and the cartographic sensibility manifested in recent
developments in contemporary art. The aim is to bring to the fore the differing spa-
tial and subjective configurations that constitute modes of subjectivity (and inter-
subjectivity) that are grounded in the “geographical imagination” (Pile 2008) and
more specifically, the cartographical imagination of mapping practices grounded in
locality. “These imaginations”—as Pile points out—“are ‘territories and bounda-
ries’, ‘subject positions’, ‘spatial practices’, ‘between me and you’ and ‘outside in/
* Simonetta Moro
smoro@idsva.edu
1 Institute forDoctoral Studies intheVisual Arts, 795 Congress Street, Portland, ME04102, USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
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