Stephen Cartwright
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Work from XY Plotter
“Every hour since noon on June 21, 1999 Stephen Cartwright has recorded the exact latitude, longitude and elevation of his position on the earth with a handheld GPS. His records now include more than 115,000 hourly recordings that span several continents and include some 40,000 miles travelled by bicycle. Cartwright creates multi-dimensional maps and objects from the collected data and offers a unique perspective of one person’s transit through life. For this exhibition, Cartwright’s installation demonstrates that visualizations can be more than just an illustration of the data—they can create new forms and topographies.
All through my latitude and longitude recording project I have looked for ways to visualize the information that expresses the essence of the project: recording an object moving through space over time. A long exposure photograph of a moving light meshes with with my desire to document that ephemeral track. Faint tracks compound to reveal the patterns of my life.”