Post map: mapping, sifting, and fabricating

The course will focus on methods of exploring, delineating and expressing space in art and design. The course will clarify the role of mapping in defining the position of the individual in relation to the social and physical spaces, and will clarify the role of organizing spatial knowledge in the society for the assimilation of interests, hierarchies and power structures. Art and design play an essential role in visual expression and in the organization of the space and its meanings in culture and society. This role is reinforced by the transition from verbal culture to visual culture. The course will cover various types of mappings, such as aerial photography, mapping and computer modeling, and will explore new "post-map" mechanisms such as participatory mapping, mapping of consciousness, system mapping and mapping and supervision of populations through control systems such as biometric databases. The organization of spatial knowledge through optical, computerized, and virtual technologies, as well as new media and information networks, initiates a shift; in many ways today, the map creates the territory. This shift requires the use of new tools that have a deep affinity and influence on art and design. The course will enable students to experience both conceptual and practical aspects of mapping and visual organization of different spaces and realities.