Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Permeable Borders Cartographical Illusions: Map Art by SFU Faculty, Staff, Students & Friends

March 28 – April 21, 2007
SFU Gallery

Participating Artists: Kate Armstrong, Francesca Berrini, Yaana Dancer, Julie den Engelsen, Rick Gibson, Sandy Goettler, Moragh Goshinmon, Liliana Guerrero, pablo K + DJ proudfoot, Nancy Kelly, Veronika Klaptocz + Vincent Van Tongeren + Michelle Willard, Art Liestman, Stefan Lorimer + Kyle Skidmore + Bryan Payne + Raffael Merola, Landon Mackenzie, Ian Robert MacTilstra, Leigh McGregor, Robert McNealy, Kim Minkus, Rima Noureddine, Stephen Osborne, Janine Prevost, Carolyn Reitzel, annie ross, Rebecca Scott, Mary Schendlinger, Marianna Schmidt, eLaine shu, Greg Snider, Paul Matthew St. Pierre, Nancy Strider, Penny Swanson, Jerry Zaslove

This exhibition was inspired in part by stories from disoriented visitors attempting to navigate their way to the SFU Gallery. Struck by the peculiarly entwined relationship between geography and art on this campus, we elected to have maps as the theme for this year's faculty/staff/student exhibition.

The process of map-making is not based on scientific data alone; it involves a range of aesthetic and creative decisions. Just as art has always played a part in map-making, maps themselves have easily found their way into art practice, whether as décor in Vermeer's 17th century Dutch interiors, as inspiration for Mondrian's grid-like geometric abstractions, or as found materials for Francesca Berrini's collages.

Submissions came from Computing Science, Contemporary Arts, Education, English, Geography, the Library, and Student Services. The works represent the full range of intersections between art and map: collages of atlases and travel guides, map shapes crafted from 2- and 3-dimensional materials, conceptual “maps of subjectivity” tracing processes of desire, maps generated by computer modeling systems, maps of imaginary places, and re-imagined maps of actual locations. The works all share a common impulse to tangibly articulate our relationship to space, whether by imposing visual and conceptual order onto an abstract entity, or by commenting on the permeable nature of borders and on the political and cultural implications of artificial boundaries.

Events

Opening Reception
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3–6pm

Lunchtime Talks
Thursday, March 29, 12:05pm
Friday, March 30, 12:35pm