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Jennifer Gergely
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Level 2: 94 points
Last Logged In: March 22nd, 2011
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15 + 14 points

Ethereal Cartography by Jennifer Gergely

February 17th, 2010 11:53 AM

INSTRUCTIONS: Make a map of something that does not exist physically.

Since this is my first task, I wanted to make sure I did a good job with it. Rather than draw a map of a place I've create for my stories, I went with using a Surrealist technique for drawing called automatism (I wasn't able to use the technique in its truest form, since I did consciously choose to draw a map). I put my music collection on shuffle and used the songs that came up to guide my drawing. As I worked on coloring it, I thought about what it means to not exist physically. If you give something a name, and then say that name out loud, then the thing can be said to exist because the oscillating pressure that makes up the sound has a physical effect on the organs of the ear. Therefore, I decided to not name anything on my map in anyway, to make sure that it has no effects on the physical world. This map also only exists in a digital medium.

- smaller

map small.png

map small.png

The line art for my map. I didn't allow myself to erase anything once I had drawn it.


map copy2.jpg

map copy2.jpg

The final colored version of my map.



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(no subject)
posted by Markov Walker on February 17th, 2010 9:11 PM

Naming a thing does not make it exist physically. Naming the tooth fairy may make the sounds "tooth fairy" exist physically, but it does not make the tooth fairy exist.

You seemed to have made a map of nothing at all. And thus, you have made a map of nothing that exists physically. Or perhaps you've mapped out a trace of what your hand felt most natural doing under the constraints you gave it. Or something else entirely.

I would recommend that when drawing randomly like this that you make your next movement conditionally independent of the total history, and only conditionally dependent on your most recent motions. Doing this might might be very unlikely to produce something resembling a map though.

(no subject)
posted by Wolf on February 17th, 2010 9:23 PM

Still, the concept here is intriguing, and the map is beautiful - it looks like somewhere that could actually exist. It completes the task: well done, and welcome to SFZero. :)

(no subject) +1
posted by Markov Walker on February 19th, 2010 3:02 AM

Yes, it is a lovely Pangaea.