CURATING THE TERRAIN a shaded relief narrative

Travis White, University of Kansas
Aaron Taveras, Map Design Studio
NACIS 2014

The authors have been invited to develop an exhibit on cartographic terrain representation for the University of Kansas Art & Design Gallery in the fall of 2014. Our goals for this exhibit are twofold: first, we wish to engage our audience in the processes used to transform "real" physical environments into cartographic depictions of those environments; second, we wish to challenge conventional notions about how the physical environment "should" appear on maps by comparing a variety of quantitative and artistic techniques for displaying topographic features. This talk follows the development of this exhibit from conception to actualization, drawing upon our own work and our key inspirations.

Transcript

1. CURATING THE TERRAIN a shaded relief narrative Travis White, University of Kansas Aaron Taveras, Map Design Studio | NACIS 2014
4. Ambitions & Expectations
5. Challenge depiction & reality
6. Challenge depiction & reality Reveal abstraction & expression
7. Challenge depiction & reality Reveal abstraction & expression Invite Exploration active & passive
8. THE GALLERY & AUDIENCE
9. University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery Floor Plan East Gallery West Gallery 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” 48’ 11”
10. KU ART & DESIGN GALLERY EAST
11. KU ART & DESIGN GALLERY WEST
12. KU ART & DESIGN GALLERY WEST
13. SPACE 1 Time, Shadows, & Experience
14. University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery Floor Plan East Gallery West Gallery 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” West Gallery Space 1: West Gallery (all walls)
15. Consider that what we perceive… Mount Saint Helens, light altitude angle today at 12pm EST
16. …must differ from what we depict. Mount Saint Helens, light out of place & out of time
17. Explorations demand comparison
18. Hawai’i Volcanoes NP, direct illumination, once per hour, 21st of each month
19. Yosemite Valley, direct illumination, once per hour, 21st of each month
20. Mount Saint Helens, direct illumination, once per hour, 21st of each month
21. Mount Drum, AK, direct illumination, once per hour, 21st of each month
23. What do these patterns reveal? What do our conventions imply?
24. SPACE 2 Reality > Abstraction > Interpretation
25. University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery Floor Plan East Gallery West Gallery 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” 48’ 11” East Gallery Space 2: East Gallery (east wall)
26. Visualizing our interpretive workflow
27. Static, superficial “reality”
28. The DEM, a numerical abstraction
29. Gray relief
30. Color relief
31. Global shadowing
32. Peak / high elevation shadowing
33. “Natural” yellow illumination
34. Global (diffuse & indirect) lightening
36. SPACE 3 Examining Conventions
37. University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery Floor Plan East Gallery West Gallery 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” East Gallery 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” Space 3: East Gallery (north & south)
38. Graubünden (SW) and Ticino, Switzerland, 1963 Eduard Imhof & Heinz Leuzinger, ETH Zurich Courtesy of Shaded Relief Archive Project
39. Colorado Ellen Kuzdro Courtesy of Shaded Relief Archive Project
40. United States–Schutzler, 1965 Herwig G. Schutzler Courtesy of Shaded Relief Archive Project
41. Bathymetric Chart of the Northwest Pacific, 1953 Japanese Hydrographic Office Photograph by A. Taveras & T. White, Map courtesy of G. McCleary
42. Denali National Park, 2012 National Park Service Courtesy of the NPS
43. Aniakchak National Monument Panorama, 2010 National Park Service Courtesy of the NPS
44. SPACE 4 Tactile & Interactive Exploration
45. University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery Floor Plan East Gallery West Gallery 20’ 11” 28’ 8” 22’ 10” 9’ 11” 28’ 8” 6’ 28’ 8” East Gallery West Gallery Space 4: Floorspace
46. Atlas of Switzerland, 1965 Director: Eduard Imhof Photograph by A. Taveras & T. White, Atlas courtesy of T.R. Smith Map Collection Casual Perusal
47. Atlas of Switzerland, 1965 Director: Eduard Imhof Photograph by A. Taveras & T. White, Atlas courtesy of T.R. Smith Map Collection Casual Perusal
48. Landforms of the United States, 1957 Erwin J. Raisz Photograph by A. Taveras & T. White, Map courtesy of G. McCleary Active Exploration & Comparison
49. Photograph by A. Taveras & T. White, Stereoscope courtesy of KU Geography Dept. Stereoscopic Exploration
50. Interactive Engagement
51. Aaron Taveras, aaron@mapdesignstudio.co mapdesignstudio.co Travis White, tmwhite@ku.edu @visualvariable (I’m a lurker only) THANK YOU & enjoy the conference