I bet people have looked at maps more in the last 18 months for new reasons than ever before.

I mean, there were times where we wouldn't even go to a different county because they were

a different color of red than we were. I mean, so bizarre and then to think about us as contributors

to the map, every time someone took a COVID test and was negative or took one and was positive

or was admitted to the hospital or got a vaccine, we contribute this data to this thing.

So in the future, what, you know, what can we substitute for COVID in that map?

Like, could we substitute happiness or grief or other sorts of psychological

data that where the map could be more useful than just trying to avoid a virus?

And that's really interesting to me.

That was artist Stuart Hyatt, whose work uses sound to understand a relationship with the natural world.

Also joining this conversation are artist Dan Mills and Christina Seely. Dan uses maps in

paintings and collages as a way to explore ideas of historic and current events, including issues

like colonialism. Christina uses photography to address the complexities of both built and natural

global systems. All of their work, Stuart, Dan and Christina, is featured in the Anchorage Museum's

exhibit, Counter-Cartographies Living the Land, which challenges our traditional understanding of

what a map is. Often maps are viewed as objective and above reproach, but maps, just like any piece of

art, come with the bias of their makers. They can be made with the intent of acquiring land and

resources, as has historically been the case. So it's important to consider how they affect our

perspective and understanding of land and our place in the world. It's also important to consider

ways we can reimagine the traditional idea of mapping, because an image can't always document

or express the reality of a place. So here they are, Stuart Hyatt, Christina Seely, and Dan Mills.

Welcome to Chattermarks, a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, dedicated to exploring Alaska's

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