Mapping and Contemporary Art

Abstract

This chapter deals with notions of the changing function and status of mapping in art, opening out definitions that have created expectations and limits on what is possible and, perhaps, desirable. It surveys how maps became a common visual trope for many artists in the decades after World War Two, beginning with some of the exhibitions and publications that have supported and disseminated their work. The chapter focuses on the changing tenor in the reception of the famous Mappe by Italian Arte Povera artist Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti. It explores selected instances of maps or mapping in art, but offers these neither as a representative overview of current practices, nor a new canon. There are now many instances of contemporary art using cartography that, generally speaking, represent a generational shift away from the map towards mapping as a process, often with a concomitant focus on action and activism.