about mapping... as an art practice

this is the artist that Badiou used as a paradigm example.

by Mark Lombardi. more information about him here

the key concept of the exploded view .... is a kind of diagram

an exploded view (the term for a diagram that reveals how the different parts fit together but seperates them out so that you can visualize it, three-dimensionally). like this:

or this
















nonetheless the exploded view concept-- its actual manifestation (in art practice) can be rather abstract or absurd (unlike Lombardi's work which is pretty much very informative tho the results are done in a highly aesthetic way) one might say...it doesn't have to be literal or totally informative-bound (i.e. didactic) itself... but rather can be more weird and funky i think... more 'personal'... but still driving towards this conceptual approach (of mapping, of making connections...)... also funny!

for example, here is something of an example of this approach to revealing connections... its an art installation... with a humorous, funky touch, no doubt.  yet i find it gets you thinking (note the use of weird asian motifs, etc. etc.-- it becomes about how basic needs [i.e. water] is distributed-- who rules that, how that is manifest... etc. etc. )

From New Museum exhibition up now

and i think this kind of thing (the exploded view or the effort to reveal connections as such) has been in art for some time... so its not exactly brand new... but to work it now and with a more focused approach to this kind of exploded view concept of organizing is the difference... it creates a way to think about how things are connected, without becoming didactic exactly...

for example this to me is something of a precursor to this thinking/appraoch. its a still from a comedy silent film from like 1918, by a french comedian. i am going to see today btw the movie.

or in a way, the futurists and the russian constructivists were also exploring this in a way... its quite different in certain key ways, but there is an element of this taking it apart to see how it works in relation to parts (its not quite deconstruction per se) aspect..

Currently, to me, this relates very closely to Actor Network theory developments and Object Oriented Ontology (or Speculative Realism) new turns in philosophy. which i am very much intrigued with, inspired by and have been following in their development for some time now...

Anyhow... nuff said for now!..