(abstract)
Maps visually represent parts of a place, an area, or a whole. They show the relative positions of elements, and their aim is to be accurate, clear, and effective. Maps have always demanded meticulous labour that involved observing, studying, and depicting what is to be mapped. The cartographer, therefore, has been undertaking the role of both “witness and actor,” being involved in the production of meaning. For this reason, maps can be understood as political objects, either for exercising power or for framing resistance. Artists’ interest in mapmaking laid in the potential to expose issues of power. Offering a contextualisation on alternative, critical and counter-mapping, the essay focuses on the practice of Vladan Joler who has been working on maps in an attempt to render visible the complexity of today’s different digital communication systems.