Installation of Route C19 Alma artwork

Sensory Maps of Vancouver
by Anna Ruth

Various bus shelters throughout Vancouver
January 25 – March 21, 2010

Sensory Maps of Vancouver is a series of drawings that record the movement of city buses and reflect the experience of public transportation in the urban environment. Using simple drawing tools, the Finland-based artist let the vibrations of each vehicle dictate the lines she translated to paper as she rode and moved from bus to bus during one 24-hour period covering as much of the city as possible. The end result—twenty bus routes, one train line and one Seabus trip later—is a collection of ‘maps’.

These maps have been enlarged and are being displayed in bus shelter advertising spaces around Vancouver during the winter of 2010. Map legends include subjective and objective information about the rides: the bus; the driver and passengers; the number of stops; the exact times of travel; and the weather conditions.

“As the bus moves, the vibrations of the vehicle are translated through my hand onto the paper. Twenty bus routes, one train line and the Seabus are explored in the course of one day, in a marathon experience. One map drawing represents one ride. In gesture, these drawings evoke a traditional type of mapping; exploring, discovering and defining a territory through a physical journey.”

-- Anna Ruth

 

Artist Biography

Anna Ruth is a Canadian artist living and working in Jyväskylä, Finland. Through her work, which is conceptual, minimalist and poetic, she studies the meaning of boundary through the exploration of line. Ruth attended Emily Carr University of Art and Design and graduated from l’École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Cornouaille (France) in 1998. She has since participated in exhibitions around the world.

See It

Picture It