Yuqi Tian L&S Arts & Humanities
Invisible Mapping: Calvino's Cities and Locative Media
How do we form imaginations of a city? How do we consider technological production through questions of place and space? What does literature tell us about the function of geo-locating methods and virtualities in our everyday life? My project examines Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities through theories in literary cartography, urban geography, and new media and asks how we can imagine urban futures with the incorporation of mobile phones and digital mapping technologies. Calvino’s book provides various ways in which a city and its experience can be, but he also reconsiders the limitations of models, stories, and maps. In this project, I focus on how the places of transience and spaces of everyday life are depicted in Invisible Cities, with further exploration of the relation between body and technology, as well as between fiction and reality. This project is also looking into how video games can be interpreted as representations of imagination and help us reconsider what it means to form models of a city.
Message To Sponsor
I really appreciate this opportunity to conduct research for my undergrad thesis in great depth! I have learned so many useful skills through SURF that would eventually assist me in the future through the workshops as well as group meetings. I look forward to continuing my research in fall and beyond. Thank you for supporting me!