Locative Media

Technology has changed everything – the way we communicate, the way we acquire knowledge, the way we express ourselves, and the way we locate people, places and things. As Ben Russell states, “As cell phones become internet-enabled and location aware, everything in the real world gets tracked, tagged, barcoded and mapped.” This new technology allows us the ability to reorganize and reshape the world around us. We can view a location in terms of the number of gas stations within a particular set of boundaries or in regards to its distance from a particular point of destination. We can allow others to know our location and enter our private space, by using apps such as Four Square and “checking in.”

Everything gets mapped – even things we wouldn’t otherwise think to map or expect to see mapped. This is shown in the This American Life podcast. We can map things that can be seen, heard, touched, tasted, and even smelled. For instance, the number of pumpkins set out for Halloween or the ambient sound in an office can be mapped. Locative media allows us to step outside the box of traditional cartographic mapping and map those things in space that we consider “unmappable.” Community can be viewed differently depending on what it is we are mapping. We may map the houses with children living in them and find a community of parents. We could also map the same neighborhood and determine the community in terms of socioeconomic status. As technology advances, so will our ability to map and change the way we experience place.

-Tracy Galloway