We walked into the State of the ArtGallery yesterday to be surprised and wowwed by Jay Hart's magnificent maps. And to our pleasure, Jay was on call that day at the gallery. I really don't feel that I can do his work justice by rambling on in my random manner about his work. Go see it for yourself>> Here is a little of what Jay says about himself:
I want to introduce people to the broadscale beauty of large swaths of earth, with perspectives that are fresh and penetrating. In doing so I also want to simplify our view of that big world, so that we can feel at home in a broader sense, becoming inherently less anthropocentric, and approaching each other with a high level of respect for our diversity.
As we trace the paths of our daily lives, we become used to thinking of the spaces around us as linear, routine, even dull. On trips to faraway places, we measure distance in travel time, too often ignoring what we have actually driven through or flown over. We think we know the world we live in - we have a glut of digital information about it - but most of us perceive it only within a confined personal range.
Jay translates that "glut of digital information" down to sheer elegance and a new way of looking at who we are and where we are. New context setting that shifts one outside into the abstract and then back to reality. His huge output is glorious in it's size, detail and 20/40 sharpness. His respect for this work eliminates glass and to a large degree any frame...allowing the work to speak for itself. Magic.
As an aside, his links and other information makes visiting his site an afternoon of discovery. It's rainy today...visit another place with Jay., and did I mention, he is a Trumansburger? I guess we might honor him with the honorific of First Cartographer and Master of Topology to the Court of Rongovia? The Director of the Academy is delighted to know that Jay is in the neighborhood.
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Jay Hart
A Brief Thaw (details)
print size: 71 in x 40 in, 181 cm x 102 cm
print resolution: 360 dpi
file size: 977MB, 12866 x 24042
number of images: 2
center location: N 68.9, W 133.7
approximate scale: 1 to 200,000
ground cell: 14.25 m, long side: 343 km