Art News

Global Positioning System? Mapquest? Not for Fans of Hand-Drawn Maps

BOSTON (REUTERS).- As high-tech mapping services such as Garmin, Google and MapQuest make finding directions easier than ever, a new movement has revived interest in maps made by hand, as a route toward personal expression. Ingrid Burrington plotted encounters between strangers in New York City that were noted on the “missed connections” personals section of Craigslist, a website for classified listings. Marilyn Murphy mapped the sites of her stomach injections to treat juvenile arthritis – a practical guide for her next shot as well as a testament to her illness. Scott Schuldt used methods and instruments of old surveyors to chart his rambles in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, and plots them in the folksy, primitive scale of strides to the inch. These maps and hundreds of others are featured on the website of the Hand Drawn Map Association , and