{"title":"Laura Kurgan","description":"\u003cp\u003eLaura Kurgan’s work explores the intersections of mapping, technology, and politics, inviting readers to consider how spatial representation shapes our understanding of the world. Through thoughtful analysis and innovative approaches, her books challenge conventional perspectives on data and geography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThose interested in critical studies of technology’s impact on society will find Kurgan’s writing both insightful and thought-provoking. Her work encourages a deeper reflection on the role of visualisation in influencing political and cultural narratives.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"close-up-at-a-distance-mapping-technology-and-politics-by-laura-kurgan-9781942130789","title":"Close Up at a Distance – Mapping, Technology, and Politics","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaps poised at the intersection of art, architecture, activism, and geography trace a profound shift in our understanding and experience of space. The maps in this book are drawn with satellites, assembled with pixels radioed from outer space, and constructed from statistics; they record situations of intense conflict and express fundamental transformations in our ways of seeing and experiencing space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese maps are built with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), remote sensing satellites, or Geographic Information Systems (GIS): digital spatial hardware and software designed for such military and governmental uses as reconnaissance, secrecy, monitoring, ballistics, the census, and national security. Rather than shying away from the politics and complexities of their intended uses, in \u003cem\u003eClose Up at a Distance\u003c\/em\u003e Laura Kurgan attempts to illuminate them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePoised at the intersection of art, architecture, activism, and geography, her analysis uncovers the implicit biases of the new views, the means of recording information they present, and the new spaces they have opened up. Her presentation of these maps reclaims, repurposes, and discovers new and even inadvertent uses for them, including documentary, memorial, preservation, interpretation, political, or simply aesthetic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGPS has been available to both civilians and the military since 1991; the World Wide Web democratized the distribution of data in 1992; Google Earth has captured global bird's-eye views since 2005. Technology has brought about a revolutionary shift in our ability to navigate, inhabit, and define the spatial realm. The traces of interactions, both physical and virtual, charted by the maps in \u003cem\u003eClose Up at a Distance\u003c\/em\u003e define this shift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47596013748460,"sku":"9781942130789","price":64.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/d2f3ad4cbda31c6ffd78fd1ae871dce0.jpg?v=1777932171"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/laura-kurgan.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}