Atlas Project – 2010
The Atlas Project
Over the next few years I will be building an atlas of the world based entirely on hearsay.
I hit on the idea while reading about 16th century maps depicting the continent Jave la Grande – a place that, if you look at it from a certain angle, may or may not look a bit like the coast of Australia. Such documents were pieced together by cartographers based on second- or third-hand information. The results were often less than accurate.
I wondered how, in this age of information overload, could I replicate this process of piecing the world together. The answer I came up with was simple – use information from random strangers and virtual friends on Facebook, Twitter, and visitors to the blog and this website. Eventually this information will be compiled into a new and unique atlas of the world.
The process is simple. I’m asking anyone who is interested to suggest a place that should be included in the atlas. In return, I make a postcard from that place and send it to you as payment for your contribution to the atlas. There are no restrictions on time or place; if you want a postcard from Venice, you can have a card from the Venice of today, or the Venice of thousands of years ago when it was just fetid marshland.
