#conceptualmap

Experiências com mapas conceptual, basicamente um brainstorming de ideias que estejam relacionadas com o meu tema «o suporte da arte». 

Este foi o meu primeiro em suporte digital e ainda estou a trabalhar no segundo muito mais arranjado. 

This is a conceptual map based on my theme that is «art medium». 

The beginning of the conceptual process. Although beginning as a map, this piece was the beginning of my understanding of process. The development of understanding and appreciation for the process of creation began when looking back at this map, and realising that it was through my documentation of the process that the creation and the final product was appreciated and had meaning.

It is through iterations of this map that I was able to explore the meaning of chance, process, personal expression, representation and response. By using the bodies of my friends surrounding me as a tool, I allowed myself to be open to the process of creation; which previously was seen as sacred and particular to myself. Through collaboration, I allowed my friends to be my tools, responding to the Oblique Strategies created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt:

Twist the spine

A line has two sides

Mechanicalise something idiosyncratic

The idiosyncratic - the nature of my friends responses, was mechanicalised by my instruction to respond to the other two directions, through the layering of response on my beginning conceptual map.

When I searched for the official definition of a map it was explained as follows. A diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, and roads: “a street map.” Alternatively, a map is a representation; usually on a flat surface as of the features of the earth or heavens showing them in their respective forms, sizes and relationships.

However, before any preliminary research I wrote down what I personally considered to be a map. I came to the conclusion a map is a form of information. It is insightful, helpful and also a guide, allowing you to navigate your way through material. A map can aid in a journey and provides direction. A map permits you to see information from alternate perspectives and gain an overview. The information is generally simplified with the use of universal symbols and images making it easier to process and understand. This very broad definition I found applicable to the notion of conceptual mapping, and my own diet map.

My conceptual map is the listing of information related to my diet, including the instructions and what I’ve been eating day to day.

A diet is a map. It can be extremely personal, giving you insight into a person’s life. It can map out a person’s emotions: signified through binge eating or erratic eating; their culture: through the inclusion of different ethnic foods; ones ethical choices: demonstrated via the exclusion of meat or animal products or even the purchasing of free range and sustainable products; ones social obligations: do they eat out a lot; and their life style including income: the budget they spend on food or health.

For me, my diet maps out my current health and allergy situation. I am currently on a trial diet that is designed to eliminate additives, salicylates, amines and glutamates.

 I decided to upload my spoken word listing onto SoundCloud. Listening to music via SoundCloud can provide an oddly visual experience. For example, each track is represented by a waveform with comments layered on top. Comments are tied to specific points in the song, and will be displayed accordingly for future listeners. I hope to encourage people to add to my map with their own ideas.

A map can generally be defined as a graphic representation of the Earth’s surface using colours, symbols and labels to represent certain features. Typically used for locating, directing and following to identify a route from one desired point to the other in the most efficient way possible. However, a map is more of a concept than simply a graphical representation of the Earth, a map has many characteristics and qualities that provide it with many alternative definitions. Most general definitions of a map contain the words graphic, representation, models, data, tool and/or communication and these words are all key aspects that specify the core features and characteristics of what makes a map. These core features and characteristics construct the concept of ‘what a map is’ and when thinking about a map from a conceptual point of view they help to define and illustrate its numerous capabilities. 

Conceptually, a map can be a tool which is used to help navigate or represent an event, process, experience or action. A map can be two or three dimensional, can be of various mediums, it can illustrate various data and most of all it has the ability to communicate and transmit information. Maps can be used to plan, delineate or organise something, it has many purposes and there are no confines to the various ways of illustrating and demonstrating the information it carries. Maps can help to direct, process and demonstrate multiple situations and experiences and it does this through the layout, concept, direction, symbols and information which it is communicating through its chosen medium.

Internet mapping and Brain mapping are two examples of conceptual maps that defy the general definition of ‘what a map is’ however they obtain the various core characteristics and features. Internet mapping is a technique which consists of a graph/map-like data field which projects the movements of the path probes to each internet entity. Brain mapping is a visual data feedback source that maps the connectome in the brain (the connections between all the neurons). The visual result maps the process and connectivity that the brain undergoes when functioning and behaving. The pair both demonstrate the concept of a map as they clearly represent a process of events, illustrate a type of information, and communicate data.

Considering these types of maps, I have chosen to base my conceptual map on the mapping of the brain and its function and connectivity, showing the thought paths as knowledge is developed when researching and learning. My conceptual map is a documentation of the movements of my mouse with a computer software (IO Graphica) as I researched for the assignment, investigating the concept of a map and expanding my knowledge to complete this task. It shows various movements and pauses throughout my work and process, conceptually illustrating the thoughts and actions of the brain. Formatted into a GIF file constructed using various sections of the generated data maps helps to conceptually represent the process of the brain and its connectivity throughout the body. 

Mitchell Farmer - z3459911

Thurs 9-12pm

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Sources Researched:

http://makingmaps.net/2008/11/25/321-definitions-of-map/

http://www.nature.com/news/the-benefits-of-brain-mapping-1.13386

http://www.kitware.com/news/home/browse/249

http://iographica.com/

http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2010/09/human-connectome-project-to-start.html

http://www.cheswick.com/ches/map/

http://weburbanist.com/2011/05/30/creative-cartography-15-artists-transforming-maps/

Brainstorm online with bubbl.us. Easily create colorful mindmaps to print or share with others. Almost no learning cur

When asked to define what a map is, you may agree that there is an array of definitions, though it can probably be admitted that the first image that flew into your head was the typical geographical map.  Although a map can be so much more, it can be purely conceptual; it encapsulates a concept and shows the different relationships and notions, arranged in a way so it is comprehensible. However, the obvious difference is, a conceptual map expands on an idea and allows one to explore various possibilities, go into depth, and initiates a divergent and more creative thinking process.

Initially  I was researching about maps in general; my thinking was initially kind of ‘in the box’. In my research I came across the typical grid map as well as road maps, climate maps which use colours to differentiate the temperature, a political map showing boundaries of the nation and state, an economic map which shows economic and natural resources.  Although this may seem typical, London artist Lucie Conoley has taken the map to a new level; one which makes a statement, using bold colours and large prints and even personalising them by using the areas or individuals information.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/going-out/artist-lucie-conoleys-paintings-map-1931900

A map is an excellent way to document how much something has spread such as disease, fast food outlets like McDonald's or even other places people like to eat. I also thought back to my studies of ancient history and how maps were used as a tool to devise strategies in order to conquer the opposing army.  Although I wanted a concept which I felt was unique so I could construct my own map. I then discovered the idea of a concept map was not developed until 1972 by a man named Novak who essentially wanted to understand the changes of a children’s knowledge of science. Since then, the conceptual map has progressed from basic text to works of art as it allows the mind to be more creative in thinking and strengthening the concept.

My mind started to unleash more creative ‘outside the box’ thoughts on the idea of mapping. I began to think of other concepts I could potentially map out and how I could go about presenting it for assessment two. The concepts included music, type of genres, artists and their origins and the effects of different music, alternatively the comparison of sound waves showing the rise and fall of pitch of two different songs. In contrast I thought of the concept of travel and constructing an informative and visual map which will reveal customs, beliefs, dress, gestures and etiquette and the do’s and don’ts in different countries. I also thought about other types of travel such as transport, time travel and space travel; adventures!

Finally I began venturing towards two main concerns that the majority of society have today; lifestyle and food. I’m trying to decide whether to focus on the concept of lifestyle which will undoubtedly include food or I could also just focus on the concept of food.  There are artists who literally map food such as Stephanie Herr but I want to create a map which will provide the viewer with both benefits and/or repercussions of different life styles and foods and how they affect the individual. I’m thinking about creating a graphic and textual mind-map or flowchart as I feel it will bring the concept across with clarity. These concepts have been developed further in the mind map above, which I thought was the best way to start thinking and map out ideas. I don't think will use a mindmap for assessment 2, it may become chaotic and and confusing!

During my research on conceptual maps, I explored a lot of different areas. At first, a conceptual map seemed quite an abstract idea to me and I could not really wrap my head around it. However, with researching different maps, I got a clearer idea of what a conceptual map can be. The most important element of a conceptual map to me is that you need to understand the concept and codes, through which the concept is told, to be able to read the map.

Within divergent and convergent thinking, connections came up as a method of approaching a subject. I was interested in using this method in my conceptual map and decided to look for connections between songs and artists in my iTunes library.

While doing my research on conceptual maps on connecting music I found lots of cliché ways, using genres or year of creation to link songs. Personally, I think that these connections do not capture the idea of conceptual thinking about music connections.

So when I started looking at my music, I tried to look for the less obvious or the less used ways of making connections between songs. I looked at colours that were used in song names, I looked at songs about certain places and lots more. At first I thought I needed to show all the different ways of connecting. But after the simplifying part of conceptual mapping became more clear to me, I decided to focus my conceptual map on two ways of connecting. Connecting through the animals in some of the song titles interested me and took this path for connecting my songs.

For conceptually mapping out the connections, I wanted to create a less literal way of showing the connections. I was inspired by ‘She’s a Rainbow: Notated in Color.’ by Ana Gomez and also by ‘Visualising Music’ by Sofia Fotaki. Both artists have brought the music back to simple shapes and colours. Both maps at first might not be understood, because you need to understand the concept behind the colours, shapes and patterns to read the map. To me, this is a very important concept in conceptual mapping, and therefore an element I wanted to bring back in my conceptual map as well.

I created simple symbols for each of the animals in my music. The symbols were based on the simplified shape of the ears of the animals, since this is the sense used while listening to music. After that, I assigned a colour for each of the artist that had one or more songs with animal titles. The colours were based on the feeling I got from the artists. The colour-coding of the artists was inspired by Sidney Lim Yi Xiang work ‘London: Seeking Colour’, in which he created a colour map for London. I think that this would influence the places people would visit, because certain colours are associated with certain feelings. So combined together, each symbol tells the animal and the artists of that song in a total visualised way, similair to Edgard Barbosa’s ‘New Calendar’. Within his work, and within my conceptual map, you will need to have knowledge of the meaning of the symbols and colours to read the map.