Contemporary artists beginning with Guy Debord and Richard Long have returned againand again to the walking motif. Debord and his friends tracked the urban flows of Paris; Longtrampled a path in the grass and snapped a picture of the result ( A Line Made byWalking). Mapping is a way for us to locate ourselves in the world physically, culturally,or psychologically; Debord produced maps like collages that traced the "psychogeography"of Paris. Today, the convergence of global networks, online databases, and new tools forlocation-based mapping coincides with a resurgence of interest in walking as an art form. InWalking and Mapping, Karen O'Rourke explores a series of walking/mapping projectsby contemporary artists. Some chart "emotional GPS"; some use GPS for creating"datascapes" while others use their legs to do "speculative mapping." Many workwith scientists, designers, and engineers. O'Rourke offers close readings of these works -- many ofwhich she was able to experience firsthand -- and situates them in relation to landmark works fromthe past half-century. She shows that the infinitesimal details of each of these projects take onmore significance in conjunction with others. Together, they form a new entity, a dynamic wholegreater than the sum of its parts. By alternating close study of selected projects with a broaderview of their place in a bigger picture, Walking and Mapping itself maps acomplex phenomena.
