continuing my obsession with interactive maps, i recently discovered Drive Project: New Orleans. it’s an interactive map project that documents the flooding of New Orleans neighborhoods. Bill Klingensmith, the artist, drove the streets of New Orleans as his equipment automatically took photos and recorded each photo’s time and location.
here’s how he describes the project:
- Drive Project: New Orleans is my attempt to encourage awareness of a significant tragedy that remains unresolved. The project is a challenge to conventional media that uses new forms of media. As an individual, I am proud to use my skills to contribute artifacts, both digital and physical, which pay homage to a city that is so important to the development and essential character the United States’ culture and heritage. This project could not have been done at any other time; it uses currently available digital technology to present a massive amount of content as an interactive web site. It is important for people to see my project and therefore hopefully come to a better understanding of the scale of devastation. The goal of Drive Project: New Orleans was to present an objective view of key locations in a city at a certain point in time. Some have interpreted the project as a political statement; others believe that it is simply a good resource to help them understand the scale of what happened and reinforces that the event is not over. As long as it makes you think about New Orleans, I am satisfied.
