
big bus, little bus – Sayraphim Lothian’s knitted version of homeJames
Photo by @Sayraphim
Indigenous Australians use ‘songlines’ to navigate the land, with lyrics describing landmarks and waterholes. Honey bees perform a ‘waggledance’ to share the location of nectar, water and new habitats. And you? You’re just addicted to Google Maps.
As we become increasingly dependent on digital devices to supplement our brain activity, what communication skills are we leaving behind? Google might well purport to not being evil, but closed-source map data is often found to include easter eggs, samples of fake data left to prove commercial ownership. Should one company really be allowed to own the tools that enable us to physically navigate across the land? OpenStreetMap is an open source alternative, one which can provide location data as well as creative opportunities. Join HOTSM’s Kate Chapman (US), nomadic geek artist Fee Plumley (UK/AU) and indigenous artists Brenda Croft (AU) and Cheryl L’Hirondelle (CA) in an open discussion about open data and how you can redefine the path to your own place.
Kate Chapman is a US geographer and technologist from the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team who has most recently been working in Jakarta on crisis preparedness and response. [@wonderchook]
Brenda L Croft is a member of the Gurindji/Malngin/Mudpurra peoples from the Northern Territory, Australia. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Experimental Arts (NIEA), College of Fine Arts (CoFA), UNSW. http://www.artgallery.
Cheryl L’Hirondelle is a non-status/treaty nêhiyaw/âpihtawikosisan (cree/metis) interdisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter from the land now known as canada. cheryllhirondelle.com
Fee Plumley is a Welsh/Mancunian/Australian