Cartography, it sounds like a funny word for something fancy, but in reality, it is the study and practice of making maps. Cartographers combine science, aesthetics and technique to communicate spatial relativity. Now that sounds all very complicated, but it really just means that they take the world and draw it out visually and accurately.

Cartography is extremely interesting because it is steeped in history. So here are some neat facts and information that you might not have known about the realm of map making.

People have been trying to document land and the surrounding geography since the beginning of time. Having a map or visual representation of where things are is very helpful when trying to travel, find food, set up shelter, or collect water. Some of the earliest maps of the world were created by the Babylonians in the 9th Century BCE. The first world map is credited to Martin Waldseemuller in 1507 which included a map of the U.S., or America, before it was settled.

The first maps were created on parchment with brushes and ink, which left room for error but it also allowed Cartographers to be creative and artistic. Once printing was invented, map making became much more precise and allowed more people to be able to read or have access to the maps.

Some cartographers even play “practical jokes” by adding things to their maps which are not actually there. For example, in the 1970s, Richard Ciacci added a fictitious mountain, Mount Richard, to the Rocky Mountains and the map ended up as the Boulder County map of Colorado.

The art of map making is fascinating and although may seem out of date with the cutting edge technology of today, is very relevant to history.

Cartography: The Fascinating Art of Map Making is a post from: Cool Comment

For those who are fans of Michael Jackson and want his legacy to continue, have no fear, a whole new set of attractions is coming to Las Vegas to commemorate the King of Pop.

The Mandalay Bay Las Vegas in conjunction with the Michael Jackson estate has announced that the hotel will house Michael Jackson themed attractions. The Las Vegas hotel will create a Michael Jackson themed lounge and install a Michael Jackson museum. The museum will be interactive and feature a great deal of Jackson’s memorabilia. Both of these attractions are expected to bring in big business for the Mandalay Bay. The museum and lounge will be open in 2013.
A Cirque du Soleil show is also in the works. The Cirque du Soleil show, “The Immortal”, will be a permanent installment at the Mandalay Bay but the show will also tour. The idea behind the show is to bring Jackson’s “Never Land” to the people, and to celebrate his unique music and dancing. The Jackson estate wanted fans to be able to experience Jackson’s Never Land estate but with its remote location they thought it a better idea to bring Never Land to the people in the form of creative theatre. The tour will hit 47 cities starting in Montreal and is the largest investment the French company has ever taken on, costing around $57 million; with Michael Jackson’s music and the creative abilities of the Cirque du Soleil designers this will be the show of the year.

The show will begin touring this year and finish in 2013.

Michael Jackson Themed Attractions Coming to Mandalay Bay is a post from: Cool Comment

The music of Puerto Rico has been making its way back and forth between the mainland states and its own clubs. It has always had a very significant influence on the music of the world, whether the rest of the world knew it or not. But thanks to the efforts of enormously creative people who are pushing artistic barriers and making new work, along with a few who are enormously talented about being outspoken, it’s been a very interesting time in the world of music.

Puya’ s time spent in Fort Lauderdale was unquestionably time well spent. It got them the gigs they needed, and connection to a large city close by, in order to start getting the songs out there. It earned them enough attention to warrant their being invited to play opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they’ve also spent more than enough concerts playing the headliners as well. They are a musical phenomenon throughout the world, but Latin America has a very special love for them, and between San Juan and Fort Lauderdale, they’ll always have a home.

Fans today can occasionally catch them in Fort Lauderdale. Cheap hotels are plentiful and comfortable, and give a great vista from which to enjoy the city’s live music scene in general. But there’s no one around who plays quite like Puya. They sound like heavy metal mixed with a little bit of punk at first introductions, but after a little listening, the salsa influence starts to come through, and the punk core starts to get stronger. These are very accomplished musicians, and they’ve got almost two decades of experience together.

Their name is a reflection of both culture and sensibility. Puya could mean the point of a spear, or a strong shot of coffee

Fort Lauderdale and Puya is a post from: Cool Comment

Despite the extremely fickle nature of the art world at large for abstracts, the works have a very palpable potency to anyone who has the right rods and cones to pick up color.  In large cities, where the contemporary art world demands a kind of stern adherence to a new post-structuralism that needs to maintain an aesthetic that is almost anti-beauty at times, these works can stand as a kind of oppositional statement, and invite in the kinds of visual pleasure that are, at root, more populist than any other ideology.  The sense of design and splendor of the New York boutique hotels have a similar effect, and it is a welcome sight to any eye, but especially tired ones.

It’s rather a delightful thing, then, when artists like Beatriz Milhazes can find a home for their works here.  For this Brazillian-born visual artist, however, it’s not just one single gallery, but her work is represented in some of the big cultural giants.  With works in the permanent collections of MOMA, the Guggenheim, and the Met, it might be safe to say that she has landed.  In many respects, the work here is almost gravy for a career that has seen plenty of opportunities to reach fresh eyes.  Her work has showings all over the world, is popular in Brazil, and has a secure position in the Parisian art scene as well.

What’s truly extraordinary about her work, however, is the acute sense of design.  At first glance, it might be easy for art snobs to dismiss it as simple bright colors put together to attract attention, surely, but devoid of content.  That is certainly not the case, as a closer look reveals a great deal of attention to the history of abstract art, drawing on a wealth of European influences while remaining firmly in a Brazilian Tropicale sensibility.  This is but another example of how Brazilian culture is continuing to gain force in popular conceptions, being recognized at last for its deep and evolving contribution to global visual culture.

NY Carioca is a post from: Cool Comment