Shifts in Mapping: Maps as a Tool of Knowledge - Paperback

by Christine Schranz (Editor)

Depicting the world, territory, and geopolitical realities involves a high degree of interpretation and imagination. It is never neutral. Cartography originated in ancient times to represent the world and to enable circulation, communication, and economic exchange. Today, IT companies are a driving force in this field and change our view of the world; how we communicate, navigate, and consume globally. Questions of privacy, authorship, and economic interests are highly relevant to cartography's practices. So how to deal with such powers and what is the critical role of cartography in it? How might a bottom-up perspective (and actions) in map-making change the conception of a geopolitical space?

Author Biography

Christine Schranz (Dr.) studied scenography (MA) and visual communication (diploma degree), both at Zurich University of the Arts. She is a designer and holds a PhD in theater, film and media studies from Universität Wien (Austria), in cooperation with Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Switzerland). She is head of programme research at the Institute of Contemporary Design Practices at Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Basel. Currently she is conducting a research project in »Commons in Design«, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Other research activities include fellowships at the Archaeologies of Media and Technology (AMT) research group at the Winchester School of Art - University of Southampton and the Chair of Art Theory & Curating at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen as well as a doctoral fellowship at the Chair of Visual Arts at TU Berlin.