Mapping/Psychogeography Reading Response

The episode of This American Life that dealt with the subject of mapping was engaging and sparked my imagination on the endless amount of content that can be "mapped". I think the most relevant aspect of the visual mapping that was done by the cartographers who were interviewed during the segment was the basic principle of mapping that they adhered to: focus on only the aspect you are mapping and remove any excess content from your map. For instance, one individual was mapping the spaces where people put out pumpkins on their porches during Halloween, but he included no other information about streets, houses, or any indications of what made the area a neighborhood. In this way he was able to construct an image that was physically mapping something that existed in reality, but it also served as a narrative - a story about people and pumpkins that could only be told through that lens.

More useful to me for my own alternative map was the idea of charting experiences that were not visual. The segment went through and identified different individuals who created maps based on sounds, smells, touches and tastes. Each person was not necessarily mapping these senses for practical and functional purposes but more so as a way to record their own memories and experiences in an environment. This potential of mapping - to record experiences that may or may not exist any longer but are none-the-less tied to and associated with certain spaces - led me to my own theme for the mapping project. I, too, wanted to map something that was beyond the physical visual realm and decided to trace places of transformation that may be physical, mental or spiritual, transient or permanent, but spaces that contained a memory of stepping beyond my own experience as a college student and adopting roles that allowed for alternative experiences.