Mapping Beyond Measure

"Thought-provoking . . . . Ferdinand impressively traverses a variety of interdisciplinary approaches from cartography, sociology, political and philosophical theory, as well as art analysis; one hopes he can expand this work into more publishing and even exhibitions. . . . Necessary reading for anyone concerned with the contemporary nexus of art and mapping."—Ruth Watson, Visual Studies
"Ferdinand's argument that art can help reveal both the potency and the spectrality of modern cartography’s claims to knowledge, at once tearing them down whilst also relying on them . . . is a powerful one, which offers an original, and compelling, contribution to ongoing geographical debates around mapping."—Dave McLaughlin, Social and Cultural Geography
"Deep and wonderful . . . The author does superb work in analyzing art and cartography. . . . I recommend this book for a museum curator, an art historian, an artist or a person with a serious interest in art and/or cartography, and a mapmaker."—Lucia Lovison-Golob, Western Association of Map Libraries Bulletin
"Mapping Beyond Measure participates in a broader scholarly discussion about the cultural formation of geographic knowledge and the ways that we think about and experience our place in the world through maps and other cultural representations of the earth. The book also provides a valuable resource for a growing number of historians who use digital mapping as a method of inquiry."—Kristan M. Hanson, H-Maps
“In this thoughtful analysis of ‘map art’ Simon Ferdinand offers an innovative interpretation of contemporary artworks that tests and reconfigures the challenges and opportunities posed by the transformation in global modernity of our lived world into lines and grids. ‘I map, therefore I am modern’ is the resounding implication that emerges from Ferdinand’s perceptive exploration of how visual artists in our times have used the map form to relate to the world, to the globe, indeed to earth itself.”—Sumathi Ramaswamy, author of Terrestrial Lessons: The Conquest of the World as Globe
“This is an important book on a theoretical level. By looking at recent technologies as a continuation of existing ontologies, Ferdinand goes beyond the hype around digital mapping. The chapters touch deftly on many themes that will also be of interest to academic readers who don’t deal explicitly with maps in their work, including utopia, modernity, quantification, and futurism, among many others.”—Jess Bier, author of Mapping Israel, Mapping Palestine: How Occupied Landscapes Shape Scientific Knowledge