Looking: Maps as art

I love maps. Always have. For as long as I can remember, sketching maps has helped me survive countless exams, boring church services, and slow days at work. On long car trips, I would browse the street directory, following our journey and trying to guess what the destination would be like. I quickly learnt that straight lines equal flat terrain, wobbly lines mean it's either hilly or an old part of town, and sphaghetti shapes probably means it's going to be a newer McMansion suburb. I also learnt that the messier the map looks, the worse the traffic will be (take Sydney or London as a case in point).


I haven't quite figured out why I love them so much. It could be the sense of discovery; the sense of finding somewhere new. Maybe it invokes a desire to travel and explore new places, a sort of abstract armchair travel. Perhaps it's simply a subconscious effort to escape wherever I am at that particular moment. Or it could just be that I like the look of them.

Several artists find maps similarly inspiring. The above work, Matrix by Emma Johnson, creates deconstructed maps using recycled materials, symbolising the tangible yet ambiguous nature of communication and transportation networks.

Another example is the late Burt Hasen, who was a soldier in World War II. Hasen's time spent reading maps on the field inspired him to spend the rest of his life creating cartographic art, such as Convulsive Coupling (below).

Looking: Tobias Rehberger

Why are Germans always the kinky ones? Tobias Rehberger is an installation and performance artist who sometimes dabbles in other media, such as photography. His work drips with satire, such as Untitled (above), which parodies Fergie's oh-so-90s toe-sucking antics, albeit with a cuter guy, and fluoro cardboard cutouts.

Rehberger's installation piece, the cheekily titled Lying Around Lazy, Not Even Moving for Coke, Sweets, TV or Vaseline, (1999 version), is kinky in a different way, because it sets out to deliberately reverse the usual artistic process. Usually, artists generate an artistic vision first, then execute this vision to be later enjoyed by the viewer. In this instance, Rehberger asked his friends what they would like in their ideal apartment. He then sought to recreate their vision without giving any input or feedback on what he thought of the idea. Similar to how bloggers created the plot for 'Snakes on a Plane' (but with much better results).

So what's my point? I guess what I'm saying is that Germans are kinky. That's all. I rest my case.

Looking: Iwan Baan

Iwan Baan is a Dutch photographer best known for his work with OMA/Rem Koolhaas. Obviously, this means he has plenty of divine architecture to use as material. But Baan goes beyond simply photographing buildings, and combines people and place in a way that few other photographers manage.

Looking: Darren Wardle

"it's like another perfect day... I love LA" - Randy Newman

Me too. Sure, LA's a sprawling, crime-ridden metropolis with vapid people and insane traffic, but I like it because it is, more than anything else, a microcosm of the world. Everyone you've ever met, every movie you've watched, every joke you've laughed at, and every tragedy that has made you shed a tear, has been put into one huge blender and poured across a concrete valley. There's nowhere else quite like it.

Darren Wardle is a Melbourne artist whose airbrushed, 80s-inspired artworks reference LA and other 'car cities' such as Las Vegas and, to a lesser extent, Melbourne and Sydney. His hypercolour, saturated and overexposed images are meticulously detailed and devoid of any human presence. His work depicts an artificial, almost dream-like world where perfection is both alluring and repelling. Kind of like LA, actually.

Wardle is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney, and Nellie Castan Gallery in Melbourne.

Looking: Wasteland

Wasteland, originally uploaded by traffman.

Untitled Urbanscape 5, Mauren Brodbeck 2004/2005

Untitled Urbanscape 9, Mauren Brodbeck 2004/2005

I've always admired the photography of Mauren Brodbeck, particularly the Untitled Urbanscape and Cityscape series which so brilliantly captures that sense of hopelessness and domination that one feels from bad architecture.

But, having not learnt the art of digital photo manipulation yet, I have to make do with taking photos of what I see. So I was delighted when I came across this brilliant blue wall in an abandoned car park on Parramatta Road somewhere near Granville.

Looking: Barbara Kruger

No More Junk, originally uploaded by traffman.

The lovely mondomuse kindly tells me that this pic reminds him of Barbara Kruger, the anxiety-inducing NY conceptual artist who pioneered guerilla art by plastering her work on billboards and bus shelters, long before Bansky.

Kruger's work has parallels to more contemporary satirical media, including The Simpsons and, more locally, Kath & Kim, as it subverts mass media and popular culture in a relevant and easily-digestible way.

You can create your own Kruger-esque images at the wonderful ConsumeDaily.