I’m rather fond of mapping projects, especially those that attempt to compress an impossibly complex ecology into two dimensions. Having to draw a static visual representation of a dynamic process forces individuals and groups to expose their hidden assumptions about how things are connected, what elements of that world are in the center, and what occupies the fringe.
Given my bias, I’m destined to love the effort of Dorian Lynskey of the UK’s Guardian, who has grafted 100 years of Western music onto the London Underground map. Says Lynskey:
It seems like a deeply implausible project: to plot the history of 20th century music on the London Underground map devised by Harry Beck in 1933. Artist Simon Patterson transformed the tube map into a constellation of famous names in his 1992 work The Great Bear, but he didn’t have to make them all link up. It is, after all, a tall order to find a saint who was also a comedian. But for this one to work every interchange had to be logical in the context of musical history, an unlikely prospect.
The result is fun and fascinating — and certainly a specific perspective on how Western music fits together. As such, other individuals will have radical disagreements with the arrangements, connections, inclusions, and exclusions. Classical music buffs might be particularly annoyed with Lynskey’s placement of their favorite genre:
…the different character of each line quickly lent itself to a certain genre. Pop intersects with everything else, so that had to be the Circle Line; classical music for the most part occupies its own sphere, which made it perfect for the Docklands Light Railway.
That’s the beauty of maps: they offer a more productive way for us to disagree.
Thanks, Andrew. What a delightful way to look at music history, however limited the scope must necessarily be. It makes one want to take a ride on this “Tube” and visit (or re-visit) a few of these musical stops.
A cartographer friend of mine once used his skills to produce a very useful “map” of our department’s skills and responsibilities, which provided all of us with insights into the “why and how” of our little group. My gifted friend also recommended a fascinating book, Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information”, which literally opened my eyes to the power of well-designed graphics in communicating complex information. I lack the graphical imagination and skill to create “maps” of any great depth or breadth, but I do apply many of Tufte’s principles in evaluating both my own work and that of others.