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The Map as an Art Form
The idea of maps as art seems to being growing as I see more and more articles like “A Re-imagined ‘24 Miles Round London’” in xyHt. There are three reasons why geospatial pros like you should be interested in  “maps as art”: 1) They relate so well to the profession and thus make great gifts and office decorations, 2) you might want to use your imagination to turn your own maps into art (see #1), and 3) they’re just so cool!
Here are some of my discoveries in this area. Below the Boat is comprised of the husband and wife team of Robbie and Kara Johnson in Bellingham, WA. Their art (example above) is unusual as it is based on bathymetric surveys (hence the name) and is created from laser-cut sheets of Baltic birch glued together to create visual depth, then hand-colored blue to differentiate water from land. They offer their map charts for east, south, and west coasts as well as inland lakes such as the great lakes and Lake Tahoe, to name but a few. Prices range from $158 up to $298.
If you are land-locked like me, you may find the art of Burbank, California-based artist Rae Nordico more to your liking. Rae offers stunning yet simple poster-sized maps based on the OpenStreetMap project. According to the website, they offer 591 unique maps for 197 cities on six continents. They even have Denver! They offer three unique map styles for every city. Prices for the 24” by 36”poster are $49 with free U.S. and international shipping included.
If you’re in the mood for something a bit more exotic (and humorous), check out the map-inspired art of New York city-based artist Anthony Petrie. While his posters are not reality-based like the previous examples, they are still a lot of fun. I especially like his Jaws-inspired “Chum Chart.”
Until next time,
Until next time,
 
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| NEWS |
 International LiDAR Mapping Forum 2015 Program Announced
The big news: SPAR Point Group announced that the International LiDAR Mapping Forum (ILMF) 2015 Conference program has been posted online. What: Comprised of more than 60 presentations, with world-leading experts presenting the latest advances in LiDAR and industry developments, ILMF is the go-to conference for anyone interested in data acquisition, fusion, processing and point clouds for airborne, terrestrial and underwater lidar for applications including transportation, urban modeling, coastal zone mapping, utility asset management, and more. When and where: February 23-25, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Denver in Denver, Colorado. Check out the full conference program on the website.
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Teledyne Gavia AUV to Aid in Search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501
The big news: The Teledyne Marine Systems group, providers of undersea vehicles and subsea  infrastructure, announced that its Teledyne Gavia AUV will be aiding in the search for the downed AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea. What: PT Java Offshore, a key customer of Teledyne Gavia, in coordination with Balai Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi (BPPT), will use their Teledyne Gavia AUV to survey the area likely to contain the plane’s debris field. Teledyne Gavia has provided a Field Service Technician to support vehicle operations along with an advanced control module with survey grade side scan sonar, an advanced navigation module, and other vital hardware for the mission. Learn more: postings of the ongoing search and recovery effort are posted on their website.
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