Hit-and-run crash
Sep. 22—Directly across from Folsom Field, wedged between the always-bustling Duane Astrophysics building and the Library of Engineering lies one of the University of Colorado Boulder's lesser-known study spots: The Earth Sciences & Map Library. While the quiet space has always provided a cozy location for some last-minute cramming, this tucked-away library has recently become home to one of the most inspiring and enlightening exhibitions on campus.
"No Boundaries: Women Transforming the World" offers a unique opportunity to explore the historic and contemporary role of women in shaping the way we perceive and navigate our planet. The exhibit displays dozens of historical maps crafted by female cartographers, along with pieces displaying the artistic expressions of map artists Charlotte Bassin and Deborah Cole.
"The exhibit highlights a lack of women in cartography, historically," said Naomi Heiser, map curator and coordinator of the exhibit. "We wanted to bring attention to the fact that there weren't a lot of women contributing to mapmaking, and if they were, they weren't always credited. But recently, I think the field has changed, so we also wanted to celebrate the women who today make maps and who create art using maps,."
Some of the historical maps on display at the exhibit include contributions from astronomers, illustrators, geographers, and oceanographers, and more, from women in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Where some women featured in "No Boundaries" create maps based on reality and fact, artist Deborah Cole chose to flip that idea. Instead, she uses real British ordnance survey maps and cuts and re-constructs them within an imagined illustration of a completely made-up world. In one piece, "Discovering the Vale of Be," Cole uses snippets of words from another map to create the name of the mythical land: Vale of Be. The piece weaves together pieces of the English countryside with long stretches of blank expanse, creating a meditative and intricate piece that challenges the viewer to look closely.
"In 1991, I walked 200-plus miles from the west to the east coast of northern England and fell in love, not only with moving on foot through the British landscape, but also with the maps I used to find my way," Cole wrote in her artist statement. "Some years later, I acquired a nearly complete set of slightly damaged Ordnance Survey maps that had been withdrawn after a flood in the Map Room of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. For years I intended to somehow use the 1:50,000 Landranger Series sheets in my artwork. In 2020, when COVID shut down travel, I finally did. The maps were all I had. So I traveled through them."
Golden-based artist Charlotte Bassin has a similar outlook on mapmaking. Bassin creates her own worlds using a mix of materials and imagery, however, instead of inventing new geographic shapes, she weaves her own interpretations of the world around her into the existing world map.
One map, titled "Women Rising World Map," is a collage made up of hundreds of photos of signs that Bassin took at a Women's march over a two-year period. A sign over Australia reads "Love"; Another over Greenland reads "Boys will be Decent Humans."
"This map here represents not just women's rights in the U.S., but all over the world," Bassin said. "I decided to leave out some of the signs that I saw during those marches that were negative because in all of my art, I'm trying to keep a message of hope and beauty and joy. The only way we can make change is with that hope,"
In each of her pieces, Bassin is intentional about leaving one thing out: Political borders.
"One common theme in my work is that I never draw any borders. It's important that we're all seen as one world, and one humanity," Bassin said. "In my years — decades — of traveling, I've learned that we're all human and we all have the same basic needs: We all want freedom, and we all want love, safety, food and water. And though we all may be different culturally, we can celebrate those differences. But it was important for me to see us as one humanity,"
In the entire exhibit, Bassin has dozens of maps on display, each one telling a unique visual story using a variety of methods and mediums.
One such medium includes a rather unconventional — but stunningly beautiful — material: Bassin's own menstrual blood. "Life Force World Map" was created using Bassin's blood set in resin — over time, the blood has dried and oxidized slightly, creating vivid deep red colors and small cracks that look like border lines in an imaginary world.
"When I made this piece, my daughters were starting to go through puberty, so we talked a lot about period shaming around the world," Bassin said. "For about five years, I wrestled with the idea for this piece, but I was afraid of its reception — whether people would think it was gross or gory, but whenever I get an idea, I usually always have to see it through or I won't stop obsessing over it."
So far, says Bassin, the piece has drawn a lot of attention from guests of the exhibit — but that's the intention.
"Generations ago, mothers wouldn't talk to their daughters about their menstrual cycle. There was a great deal of shame wrapped around that topic, but it's the reason that we are able to have children, and bring life into the world. I want people to become comfortable talking about it — not just here, but all over the world. But the conversation starts at home.
Heiser said she hopes the inclusion of the artistic maps in the exhibit will introduce a new perspective and spark creativity when it comes to mapmaking.
"We wanted to show people that maps aren't just about wayfinding," Heiser said. "You can have a whole different story being told by a map. Our collection has more than just tourist maps, or road or topographic maps — there are all types of other possibilities."
"No Boundaries: Women Transforming the World" is free to the public, and will be on display through spring of 2024. Visit bit.ly/3PJHhJe for more information.
