Photocartographies: Tattered Fragments of the Map

April 27, 2009 (Los Angeles, CA) Photocartographies: Tattered Fragments of the Map is a curatorial project that includes an art exhibition, a series of public programs and a book of related essays. g727, a non-profit art gallery in downtown Los Angeles, will host the exhibition and associated events. Photography and cartography are entwined in similar processes of subject orientation that structure our experience of social, environmental and virtual landscapes. A map is not a representation so much as a system of propositions. This project reveals mapping itself as a generative process of knowledge creation, a liberatory method for re-imagining and re-imaging our world, its built and natural environments, and the relationship between space and place. An international roster of artists have been selected by independent curators Adam Katz (Los Angeles) and Brian Rosa (Mexico City) to participate in the exhibition. Mapping and photography are conceptual frameworks, rather than methods, that unite this group of artists. The exhibition will include video, installation and sculptural pieces in addition to two-dimensional photographic work and digital renderings. Participating artists include Anthony Auerbach, Katherine E. Bash, Noah Beil, Cris Benton, Frank Gohlke, Gregory Michael Hernandez, David Horvitz, David Maisel, Adam Ryder, Oraib Toukan, Angie Waller and Nikolas Schiller. Throughout the duration of the exhibition, g727 will host a series of public programs that further engage issues of orientation, land use, the city, maps and technology. Each event includes a small reception and all are open to the public.

• Travelogue – An evening of films by experimental filmmaker Bill Brown and a video installation by Bia Gayotto, Xing LA: From Altadena to LB.
• Shaping LA: Maps for planning, developing and resisting the city – A panel discussion moderated by James Rojas with Los Angeles urban planners, developers and activists.
• enGage ludiCity: A Situationist-inspired ludic urban action (derive / detournement) using mobile technology for collective design and reflexion on the psychogeography and historicity of Los Angeles. A Cultural Civic Computing experience by UCLA's Center for Research in Engineering Media and Performance (REMAP).

In the publication, Tattered Fragments of the Map, artists are joined by critics and scholars in a collection of essays that explore broader themes orbiting around the terrain of photographic and cartographic representation, image making and consumption, and the experience and interpretation of landscape. Rather than drawing conclusions from the work presented in the exhibition, this collection of texts is offered as a projection, a departure, a tangent, a gesture towards new territories for thought and inquiry. Contributors include Anthony Auerbach, Cris Benton, Bill Brown, Bill Fox, Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, Gerardo Greene Gondi, Herbert Gottfried, Alex Haber, Simone Hancox, Adam Katz , Brian Rosa, and Anusha Venkataraman. The website tatteredfragments.info provides a complete calendar of events, artist bios, and information on how to support this no-profit venture. Commemorative artworks by participating artists are on sale through the website, as is the associated publication. About the Curators Adam Katz is a cultural programmer, consultant, and curator in Los Angeles. He currently manages the programs at Telic Arts Exchange, co-directs the artist run workspace gallery and has recently developed innovative arts and community spaces in Venice Beach (The Mission) and Silver Lake (siteLA). Brian Rosa is an urban researcher, photographer, and curator. He is currently based in Mexico City, where he is preparing Palimpsesto Urbano, an exhibition on the symbolic role of large-scale planning in Mexico during the Porfirio Diaz regime, as part of his participation with El Taller Internacional de Arquitectura, Urbanismo y+. Exhibition atg727, May 16-July 3 Gallery open Friday / Saturday 1-6 Reception May 16, 7:00-10:00 727 South Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles Please visit http://tatteredfragments.info for more information on the exhibition and events