These are the final maps from a participatory mapping project I took part in recently. It was created by English artist Christian Nold and commissioned by Southern Exposure. The final product is a sort of emotional meta-map of the Mission (eM M-M M?), formed from about 100 people's experiences walking in the neighborhood.People went for a stroll around the Mission while attached to a Bio Mapping device (a thing with lots of wires that you strapped onto your fingers) which recorded the wearer’s Galvanic Skin Response (which indicated the wearer's emotional arousal (!) in conjunction with their geographical location - not dissimilar to a lie detector device). The data was then downloaded and used to plot an “emotion map” that highlighted each person's points of high and low arousal. After sharing and reflecting on this data, Christian constructed a map that shows where "we" as a community feel stressed and excited.
It's thought-provoking both from the perspective of what's involved for people who participate in the creation process, and the resulting finished piece - an alternate way of considering one's locale. For the people who took part (i.e. me), it provided a different way of seeing and experiencing the areas you walk through every day. I enjoyed participating more than expected. It was exciting and sort of trippy to be wired up to the device and to go wandering down 24th Street and up to Bernal Hill, while being hyper-conscious of everything going on around you - for a change. Back at Southern Expsosure, we took turns describing our walks to Christian, and listening to other people's stories. It was interesting to hear what sorts of real experiences and triggered memories provoked the strongest emotions. Kind of like group therapy, but without the conversion. The finished map is cool - specially when you download Google Earth and start zooming around the Mission examining different people's paths.
More info here Bio Mapping website
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