The Mapping Journey Project may seem simple at first glance, but once you delve into it, it opens up a complex world of geopolitical reality and struggles of individuals who just want to live a peaceful life and support their families. When I sat down in front of a screen and started listening to someone’s journey, my imaginations played a great part in experiencing the project. I would look at the pen moving across the map as my mind visualized their journey – whether it was through a desert or by boat or bus, I couldn’t help but imagine what it must have felt like – very captivating. The tone of their voices was very calm and casual as if they’re used to it.
My favorite moment was probably when a man tried to escape to Italy, but accidentally ended up in Turkey thinking that he was in Italy. The whole piece seemed refreshing and especially relevant now that I’ve read articles about the European refugee and migrant crisis and them being a generic mass of people – full of terrorists and slackers, looking to live on welfare – often very Islamophobic. That’s why the whole set up was so fitting – from afar, they’re all identical, impersonal projections, not until you sit down you can see how different all of the maps are and hear their experiences and stories and relate to them.

When I first entered the underground screening space, Ernie Gehr’s video exhibit, which is projected onto 5 screens in a dimly lit room, it immediately reminded me of a zoetrope, without the flickering effect. It was captivating right from the start, and became even more fascinating as I sat there and watched for a longer period of time. The piece unravels itself and you start noticing what constitutes the carnival. There is a lot of action involved in the projected series of playful vignettes – chase, horses, marching band, dancers, and ships. One of the common things was animals, or what resembled humans wearing giant animal heads, running across the screen. What I particularity enjoyed was the birds. What seemed a little odd at first was the inconsistent speed at which the animations move, but after having spent some time sitting there, focused on the screens, I got used to it and actually enjoyed it– seemed very organic, as if a child was sitting behind the screens manually changing the slides at random. I felt extremely nostalgic for my childhood as the animations reminded me of the books I had as a child with layered pages that I could move from side to side causing subtle movement in the pictures I was seeing. Only one of the projections was in color split into smaller screens, located in the right corner, it differed from all others, but had the same effect and didn’t feel much different. Since the piece was silent, I found fitting music to listen to while I was watching. I spent about 10 minutes for on one side of the room before moving to the other side to watch the rest. It would have been cool if the screens were all circular with swivel- like chairs in the middle, allowing you to enjoy all screens without having to move around. Not because I’m lazy, but to feel like you’re in the middle of zoetrope-like contraption, in the epicenter of the carnival. But nonetheless, I was hypnotized by the piece and sat there for about 30 minutes, listening to an entire album, unwilling to leave.