What does the dramatic rise of the TikTok “Content House” mean for architecture and domesticity?

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<p>What does the dramatic rise of the TikTok “Content House” mean for architecture and domesticity?</p>

The year 2020 will always be remembered as a fundamentally transformative year. Exactly how permanent the rapidly adopted new patterns of work and domestic life will prove to be is difficult to gauge, but a return to old norms currently seems unlikely. Digital communication, already the structural core of our everyday lives in the pre-pandemic world, has become for some the primary form of social and professional interaction. Our new “distributed” working lives have fractured the head office across a thousand sofas, spare bedrooms, and kitchen tables.

<p>The year 2020 will always be remembered as a fundamentally transformative year. Exactly how permanent the rapidly adopted new patterns of work and domestic life will prove to be is difficult to gauge, but a return to old norms currently seems unlikely. Digital communication, already the structural core of our everyday lives in the pre-pandemic world, has become for some the primary form of social and professional interaction. Our new “distributed” working lives have fractured the head office across a thousand sofas, spare bedrooms, and kitchen tables.</p>

At the same time, for a generation of content creators rapidly professionalizing across Twitch streams, YouTube videos, and Discord servers, home has become the stage, studio, and media distribution center, and the definition of what a house is for has suddenly become hotly contested.

<p>At the same time, for a generation of content creators rapidly professionalizing across Twitch streams, YouTube videos, and Discord servers, home has become the stage, studio, and media distribution center, and the definition of what a house is for has suddenly become hotly contested.</p>

Our recent societal-wide, cultural beta-test has provided conditions where radical ideas can quickly become future norms, and so the recent explosion in popularity of TikTok, its “content houses,” and their occupants might require deeper consideration...

<p>Our recent societal-wide, cultural beta-test has provided conditions where radical ideas can quickly become future norms, and so the recent explosion in popularity of TikTok, its “content houses,” and their occupants might require deeper consideration...</p>

The full essay <em>The Content House: The New Cottage Industry Of&nbsp;Platform Inhabitation</em> is available via Strelka Magazine:  <a href="https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house</a>

<p>The full essay <em>The Content House: The New Cottage Industry Of&nbsp;Platform Inhabitation</em> is available via Strelka Magazine:  <a href="https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house</a></p>


<p>What does the dramatic rise of the TikTok “Content House” mean for architecture and domesticity?</p>



<p>The year 2020 will always be remembered as a fundamentally transformative year. Exactly how permanent the rapidly adopted new patterns of work and domestic life will prove to be is difficult to gauge, but a return to old norms currently seems unlikely. Digital communication, already the structural core of our everyday lives in the pre-pandemic world, has become for some the primary form of social and professional interaction. Our new “distributed” working lives have fractured the head office across a thousand sofas, spare bedrooms, and kitchen tables.</p>



<p>At the same time, for a generation of content creators rapidly professionalizing across Twitch streams, YouTube videos, and Discord servers, home has become the stage, studio, and media distribution center, and the definition of what a house is for has suddenly become hotly contested.</p>



<p>Our recent societal-wide, cultural beta-test has provided conditions where radical ideas can quickly become future norms, and so the recent explosion in popularity of TikTok, its “content houses,” and their occupants might require deeper consideration&#8230;</p>



<p>The full essay <em>The Content House: The New Cottage Industry Of&nbsp;Platform Inhabitation</em> is available via Strelka Magazine:  <a href="https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://strelkamag.com/en/article/content-house</a></p>


0002 – The Content House

In his 2012 <a href="http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2012/04/29/the_avengers_collects_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbustersuper_groupthe_avengers_assembles_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbuster/">review</a> of the movie <em>The Avengers,</em> film critic of The Boston Globe, Tom Russo noted:

<p>In his 2012 <a href="http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2012/04/29/the_avengers_collects_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbustersuper_groupthe_avengers_assembles_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbuster/">review</a> of the movie <em>The Avengers,</em> film critic of The Boston Globe, Tom Russo noted:</p>

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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The word “<em>universe</em>” is standard parlance in the comic book industry. [...] You don’t hear “<em>universe</em>” much in the film industry. Here in the real world — or Hollywood, at any rate — the prospect of mingling franchise characters is dauntingly complicated. &nbsp;Sure, we get a novelty such as “Alien vs. Predator” here and there, but rarely. Different studios hold rights to characters. Actors’ contracts can be tricky to coordinate — and so can their egos, one imagines.</p><cite>– <em><a href="http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2012/04/29/the_avengers_collects_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbustersuper_groupthe_avengers_assembles_all_your_favorite_marvel_characters_in_one_handy_wannabe_blockbuster/">Super Group - 'The Avengers' assembles all your favorite Marvel characters in one handy wannabe blockbuster<br></a></em><br></cite></blockquote>

The quote is a useful reminder that the era of the Big Comics crossover franchise, at least in cinema is barely a decade old.

<p>The quote is a useful reminder that the era of the Big Comics crossover franchise, at least in cinema is barely a decade old.</p>

Marvel's ambitious pace has been matched by staggering financial returns. Including the movies they used to strategically (re)introduce audiences to individual characters before <em>The Avengers</em> first assembled, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is now a catalogue of 28 films, with a further 11 in development, all in just 15 years. A single franchise that has amassed <em>billions</em> of global fans and  as of 2021 represents <a href="https://screenrant.com/marvel-movie-mcu-box-office-2021-details/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30% of all US box office revenue</a> and generated <a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$26.5B in global revenue since 2008</a>.

<p>Marvel's ambitious pace has been matched by staggering financial returns. Including the movies they used to strategically (re)introduce audiences to individual characters before <em>The Avengers</em> first assembled, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is now a catalogue of 28 films, with a further 11 in development, all in just 15 years. A single franchise that has amassed <em>billions</em> of global fans and  as of 2021 represents <a href="https://screenrant.com/marvel-movie-mcu-box-office-2021-details/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30% of all US box office revenue</a> and generated <a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchises" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$26.5B in global revenue since 2008</a>.</p>

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<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/comicon-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2597"/><figcaption>The long and winding path in the first entrance hall.</figcaption></figure>

The methods, platforms and regularity with which we consume, or become consumed by, has also been changing at a dizzy pace during this time. Marvel, along with Harry Potter, DC, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings (to name just a few) are the juggernauts of IP,  speculative fictional universes that are inducing a new era of immersive fandom that is continuously reprocessed across every concievable contemporary media from film, books, comics, computer games, mobile apps, theme parks, trading cards, cosplay and seemingly unlimited avenues for merchandise or online social presence and communities.

<p>The methods, platforms and regularity with which we consume, or become consumed by, has also been changing at a dizzy pace during this time. Marvel, along with Harry Potter, DC, Star Wars, Lord of The Rings (to name just a few) are the juggernauts of IP,  speculative fictional universes that are inducing a new era of immersive fandom that is continuously reprocessed across every concievable contemporary media from film, books, comics, computer games, mobile apps, theme parks, trading cards, cosplay and seemingly unlimited avenues for merchandise or online social presence and communities.</p>

The <em>condition of</em> fandom is by no means new, although the connective tissue of the digital age is allowing the entertainment and media companies controlling these franchise to offer the contemporary fan something altogether more boundless and integrated. Captivating oceans of glossy, social activated and deliciously addictive content. If "<em>politics is downstream of culture</em>", then fandom may very well be the melting glacier atop the mountain.

<p>The <em>condition of</em> fandom is by no means new, although the connective tissue of the digital age is allowing the entertainment and media companies controlling these franchise to offer the contemporary fan something altogether more boundless and integrated. Captivating oceans of glossy, social activated and deliciously addictive content. If "<em>politics is downstream of culture</em>", then fandom may very well be the melting glacier atop the mountain.</p>

What might be novel though is the scale and rich complexity that underpins the proposition of these 'universes', the result of decades of output by hundreds of authors and artists. Marvel films for instance can draw from a staggering diversity of story arcs and characters, given there are approximately approximately 27,000 comics in the series, so many in fact it is considered by some to be the largest continuous human narrative and it's speculated that only a handful of people, notably author Douglas Wolk and Marvel archivist Peter Sanderson and have read them all. The 4,868 pages that make up the Harry Potter books (including spin-offs) seems slight by comparison.

<p>What might be novel though is the scale and rich complexity that underpins the proposition of these 'universes', the result of decades of output by hundreds of authors and artists. Marvel films for instance can draw from a staggering diversity of story arcs and characters, given there are approximately approximately 27,000 comics in the series, so many in fact it is considered by some to be the largest continuous human narrative and it's speculated that only a handful of people, notably author Douglas Wolk and Marvel archivist Peter Sanderson and have read them all. The 4,868 pages that make up the Harry Potter books (including spin-offs) seems slight by comparison.</p>

This vastness enables a type of story-telling that can sustain countless spin-offs, callbacks, knowing references - interwoven narrative threads that might take a dozen movies to resolve, only to reappear in a video game demanding 100 hours of gameplay. A screenplay writer friend of mine once theorised that one of the major innovations of the crossover comic book film is that there is so little requirement for exposition that the movies can essentially begin with full tilt action, when in a more polite era of Hollywood the audience might expect to get at least 10 or 20 minutes to settle in.

<p>This vastness enables a type of story-telling that can sustain countless spin-offs, callbacks, knowing references - interwoven narrative threads that might take a dozen movies to resolve, only to reappear in a video game demanding 100 hours of gameplay. A screenplay writer friend of mine once theorised that one of the major innovations of the crossover comic book film is that there is so little requirement for exposition that the movies can essentially begin with full tilt action, when in a more polite era of Hollywood the audience might expect to get at least 10 or 20 minutes to settle in.  </p>

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Personally speaking however, I feel like I missed the bus altogether, despite being deeply curios my knowledge of comic books is very patchy, which is why I took the chance to go to Comic Con, or more fully <strong>Movie Comic Media</strong> (MCM) London Comic Con 2022 at The Excel Centre. The trip was anything but premeditated however - I had been travelling on London's new Elizabeth Line when the carriage was suddenly overwhelmed with Cosplay - when the (Marvel) universe gives you a sign, you better act on it.

<p>Personally speaking however, I feel like I missed the bus altogether, despite being deeply curios my knowledge of comic books is very patchy, which is why I took the chance to go to Comic Con, or more fully <strong>Movie Comic Media</strong> (MCM) London Comic Con 2022 at The Excel Centre. The trip was anything but premeditated however - I had been travelling on London's new Elizabeth Line when the carriage was suddenly overwhelmed with Cosplay - when the (Marvel) universe gives you a sign, you better act on it. </p>

The cradle of Comic Book conventions is Comic Con San Diego, first held in 1976, steadily growing to 13,000 visitors by 1990, before exploding in popularity and reaching 130,000 by 2010.  Whether Comic Con or Comicon or Comic-Con is a legal trademark has been a major legal battle. I incorrectly assumed it was all part of the same happy family, but Comic Con London is distinctly not commercially related to San Diego.

<p>The cradle of Comic Book conventions is Comic Con San Diego, first held in 1976, steadily growing to 13,000 visitors by 1990, before exploding in popularity and reaching 130,000 by 2010.  Whether Comic Con or Comicon or Comic-Con is a legal trademark has been a major legal battle. I incorrectly assumed it was all part of the same happy family, but Comic Con London is distinctly not commercially related to San Diego.</p>

For all the observations that follow, and some of the overt cynicism I have for certain aspects of the industries involved -  almost everyone attending seemed to be having a contagiously fantastic time. Although precise numbers are hard to locate, The London Comic Con is one of, if not the largest convention held in the UK, frequently receiving upwards 130,000 visitors, rivalling Glastonbury in sheer numbers albeit requiring distinctly less investment of both time, money and exposure to the elements.

<p>For all the observations that follow, and some of the overt cynicism I have for certain aspects of the industries involved -  almost everyone attending seemed to be having a contagiously fantastic time. Although precise numbers are hard to locate, The London Comic Con is one of, if not the largest convention held in the UK, frequently receiving upwards 130,000 visitors, rivalling Glastonbury in sheer numbers albeit requiring distinctly less investment of both time, money and exposure to the elements.</p>

While the fictional universes of comic books is the glue, the real show is of course the Cosplay. It's trite observation, but Cosplay obviously gives affords an experience out of the everyday, a cheat code to a different way of socialising. The atmosphere at Comic Con is far more electric than I anticipated, a tangible slightly nervous atmosphere of hyperactivity, neon energy drinks and imported Japanese sweets. The buzz also seems almost entirely be generated by attendees interacting with each other, a plasma of awkward but joyful high-fives, photo opportunities and sparks of recognition.

<p>While the fictional universes of comic books is the glue, the real show is of course the Cosplay. It's trite observation, but Cosplay obviously gives affords an experience out of the everyday, a cheat code to a different way of socialising. The atmosphere at Comic Con is far more electric than I anticipated, a tangible slightly nervous atmosphere of hyperactivity, neon energy drinks and imported Japanese sweets. The buzz also seems almost entirely be generated by attendees interacting with each other, a plasma of awkward but joyful high-fives, photo opportunities and sparks of recognition. </p>

<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>While clearly providing space for a particular form of personal expression in overdrive, it's simultaneously and studiously playing by a very particular logic. Comic Con is not a spectator sport, </p><p>Everyone in attendance is either in everyday clothes or somewhere on a spectrum that builds from a few accessories, a bit of make-up, a knowing t-shirt, a mask to fully realised cosplay. Even the encounters with people in oversized, calculatedly terrifying horror costumes with might otherwise feel warmly friendly.</p><p></p></div>

<div class="wp-block-columns"><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IMG_4577-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2640"/></figure></div><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>While clearly providing space for a particular form of personal expression in overdrive, it's simultaneously and studiously playing by a very particular logic. Comic Con is not a spectator sport, </p><p>Everyone in attendance is either in everyday clothes or somewhere on a spectrum that builds from a few accessories, a bit of make-up, a knowing t-shirt, a mask to fully realised cosplay. Even the encounters with people in oversized, calculatedly terrifying horror costumes with might otherwise feel warmly friendly.</p><p></p></div></div>

Possibly the most jarring approach would be to attend as a character fully of your own invention, especially if it wasn't very good. Afterwards I also discovered that the American comedian Stephen Colbert did exactly this - attending Comic Con San Diego as artfully terrible "<a href="https://www.cc.com/video/zryrry/the-colbert-report-undercover-at-comic-con-prince-hawkcat">Prince Hawkcat</a>".

<p>Possibly the most jarring approach would be to attend as a character fully of your own invention, especially if it wasn't very good. Afterwards I also discovered that the American comedian Stephen Colbert did exactly this - attending Comic Con San Diego as artfully terrible "<a href="https://www.cc.com/video/zryrry/the-colbert-report-undercover-at-comic-con-prince-hawkcat">Prince Hawkcat</a>".</p>

There seems to be something of an unwritten rule that prevents the professional writers, actors and anyone in the 'biz' dressing up - "don't get high of your own supply" - although Cosplay it would seem is bounded the rules of it's fictional universe and some separation between fan and creator. There is a tradition of celebrities attending <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/comic-con-15-stars-costume-as-a-disguise-1014839/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in disguise</a> (frequently while having something to promote) although it's curious that this is distinguishable from simple being in 'costume'.

<p>There seems to be something of an unwritten rule that prevents the professional writers, actors and anyone in the 'biz' dressing up - "don't get high of your own supply" - although Cosplay it would seem is bounded the rules of it's fictional universe and some separation between fan and creator. There is a tradition of celebrities attending <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/comic-con-15-stars-costume-as-a-disguise-1014839/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in disguise</a> (frequently while having something to promote) although it's curious that this is distinguishable from simple being in 'costume'.</p>

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Through the lens of the original premise - that these franchises and 'fandom' are building a serious gravitational energy in society - the ritualism of Comic Con, seemingly governed by code of signals to fellow fans and celebration of everything fan-based represents this potential at it's most polychromatic. In their recently published book <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314162/the-dawn-of-everything/9780141991061">The Dawn of Everything</a>, David Graeber and David Wengrow, reassess the perceived origins of egalitarianism by appreciating the complexity and diversity of how early human communities self-organised. They do so in part by establishing the importance of rituals, in particular seasonal festivals that fostered <em> "political self-consciousness... as laboratories of social possibility.</em>" A key component of this was the temporary upheaval of entrenched or status hierarchies, as they note:

<p>Through the lens of the original premise - that these franchises and 'fandom' are building a serious gravitational energy in society - the ritualism of Comic Con, seemingly governed by code of signals to fellow fans and celebration of everything fan-based represents this potential at it's most polychromatic. In their recently published book <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/314162/the-dawn-of-everything/9780141991061">The Dawn of Everything</a>, David Graeber and David Wengrow, reassess the perceived origins of egalitarianism by appreciating the complexity and diversity of how early human communities self-organised. They do so in part by establishing the importance of rituals, in particular seasonal festivals that fostered <em> "political self-consciousness... as laboratories of social possibility.</em>" A key component of this was the temporary upheaval of entrenched or status hierarchies, as they note:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>... sometimes festivals are moments where entirely different social structures take over, such as the ‘youth abbeys’ that seem to have existed across medieval Europe, with their Boy Bishops, May Queens, Lords of Misrule, Abbots of Unreason and Princes of Sots, who during the Christmas, Mayday or carnival season temporarily took over many of the functions of government and enacted a bawdy parody of government’s everyday forms. ... The really powerful ritual moments are those of collective chaos, effervescence, liminality or creative play, out of which new social forms can come into the world.”</p><cite><strong>The Dawn of Everything, David Graeber and David Wengrow</strong></cite></blockquote>

Comic Con might is by no means an isolated extremity, all number of 'seasonal', increasingly popular, global festivals ranging from Burning Man, Coachella or even the Miami International Boat Show might also be equally valid subjects of investigation as contemporary rituals.

<p>Comic Con might is by no means an isolated extremity, all number of 'seasonal', increasingly popular, global festivals ranging from Burning Man, Coachella or even the Miami International Boat Show might also be equally valid subjects of investigation as contemporary rituals.</p>

<h2>All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go</h2>

At the same time, one of the things that surprised me the most - despite a main stage and various panels and enormous scale - there isn't all that much to actually do. Granted I am not naturally inclined to spend hours browsing through comics but it didn't really seem anyone else was either. There's lots of queues to join, a zone to play vintage video and board games, a throng of food trucks parked incongruously inside. Much of the event is itself about taking photos, being present with the lore, acknowledging sparks of deep fan knowledge.  As a result my it felt equal parts over-saturating and underwhelming.

<p>At the same time, one of the things that surprised me the most - despite a main stage and various panels and enormous scale - there isn't all that much to actually do. Granted I am not naturally inclined to spend hours browsing through comics but it didn't really seem anyone else was either. There's lots of queues to join, a zone to play vintage video and board games, a throng of food trucks parked incongruously inside. Much of the event is itself about taking photos, being present with the lore, acknowledging sparks of deep fan knowledge.  As a result my it felt equal parts over-saturating and underwhelming.  </p>

<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>Experiencing Comic Con for the first time though, what struck me most was the was the staging of the event itself. I was expecting something altogether more grandiose in setting but in the end it then it feels completely swallowed by the Excel center. It creates a very particular condition, an indoor car boot sale of dense fantastical fictional universes floating in endless, very contemporary infrastructural <em><a href="https://www.oma.com/publications/junkspace" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Junk Space</a></em>.</p></div>

<div class="wp-block-columns alignwide"><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>Experiencing Comic Con for the first time though, what struck me most was the was the staging of the event itself. I was expecting something altogether more grandiose in setting but in the end it then it feels completely swallowed by the Excel center. It creates a very particular condition, an indoor car boot sale of dense fantastical fictional universes floating in endless, very contemporary infrastructural <em><a href="https://www.oma.com/publications/junkspace" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Junk Space</a></em>.</p></div><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:70%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/comicon-10-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2599"/></figure></div></div>

Conventions and trade shows have this sinking all-purpose soullessness and drabness to them by default, given the necessarily blank backdrop of convention centres, but expectations have probably also been warped by other events, notably technology and car shows where budgets are exponentially higher. London Comic Con isn't altogether very <em>showy</em>. This may be the particular cavernous blandness of the Excel Centre, looking at through images of Comic Con San Diego looks more vibrant, co-ordinated and vertical - at least in the photos.

<p>Conventions and trade shows have this sinking all-purpose soullessness and drabness to them by default, given the necessarily blank backdrop of convention centres, but expectations have probably also been warped by other events, notably technology and car shows where budgets are exponentially higher. London Comic Con isn't altogether very <em>showy</em>. This may be the particular cavernous blandness of the Excel Centre, looking at through images of Comic Con San Diego looks more vibrant, co-ordinated and vertical - at least in the photos.</p>

My assumptions have probably been distorted still further by watching videos of a new generation of immersive theme park zones, which offer visitors a full manifestation of their favourite fictional universe.

<p>My assumptions have probably been distorted still further by watching videos of a new generation of immersive theme park zones, which offer visitors a full manifestation of their favourite fictional universe.</p>

Spearheaded by <em>The Wizarding World of Harry Potter</em> at <em>Universal&nbsp;Studios Florida</em>, the current gold standard is the 14 acre <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oESoI6XxZTg">Star Wars: Galaxies Edge</a>, at Disney World, Florida. The latter is a full-stack chunk of the Star Wars universe  laborious detailed by Disney's Imagineering Department, with a unique currency, language, menus of interstellar cuisine and repackaged 'alien' bottles of <a href="https://wdwnt.com/2021/06/photos-themed-coca-cola-souvenir-bottles-return-to-star-wars-galaxys-edge-at-disneyland/">Coke and Sprite</a> and workshops to build a custom lightsaber (costing an additional $199.99). It was named one of Time magazines "World's Greatest Places 2019" and apparently popular enough upon opening that it all but emptied the rest of Disneyland.

<p>Spearheaded by <em>The Wizarding World of Harry Potter</em> at <em>Universal&nbsp;Studios Florida</em>, the current gold standard is the 14 acre <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oESoI6XxZTg">Star Wars: Galaxies Edge</a>, at Disney World, Florida. The latter is a full-stack chunk of the Star Wars universe  laborious detailed by Disney's Imagineering Department, with a unique currency, language, menus of interstellar cuisine and repackaged 'alien' bottles of <a href="https://wdwnt.com/2021/06/photos-themed-coca-cola-souvenir-bottles-return-to-star-wars-galaxys-edge-at-disneyland/">Coke and Sprite</a> and workshops to build a custom lightsaber (costing an additional $199.99). It was named one of Time magazines "World's Greatest Places 2019" and apparently popular enough upon opening that it all but emptied the rest of Disneyland. </p>

So popular in fact that an <a href="https://youtu.be/ExxxOmajklE?t=175" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">essentially identical version</a> has opened on the West Coast at Disneyland, with the same design and layout, shops and attractions. The most significant differences appear to be some tweaks to the colour scheme and two extra colourful milk-and-rum cocktails you can only find on the West Coast. Florida now however boasts the addition of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzFfnWGZ_WI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Galactic Starcruiser</a>, a new experiential hotel costing a minimum of $4,809 per room on the two-night '<em>voyage</em>' that is part immersive theatre and part grounded "screens-for-windows" cruise ship.

<p> So popular in fact that an <a href="https://youtu.be/ExxxOmajklE?t=175" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">essentially identical version</a> has opened on the West Coast at Disneyland, with the same design and layout, shops and attractions. The most significant differences appear to be some tweaks to the colour scheme and two extra colourful milk-and-rum cocktails you can only find on the West Coast. Florida now however boasts the addition of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzFfnWGZ_WI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Galactic Starcruiser</a>, a new experiential hotel costing a minimum of $4,809 per room on the two-night '<em>voyage</em>' that is part immersive theatre and part grounded "screens-for-windows" cruise ship.</p>

The desire to lose ourselves is these universes is seemingly limitless and astonishingly lucrative for the major studio, and so it's easy to imagine that such events and places will continue to balloon in scale an ambition. Graeber and Wengrow, again on the subject of early human rituals:

<p>The desire to lose ourselves is these universes is seemingly limitless and astonishingly lucrative for the major studio, and so it's easy to imagine that such events and places will continue to balloon in scale an ambition. Graeber and Wengrow, again on the subject of early human rituals:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>“What’s really important about such festivals is that they kept the old spark of political self-consciousness alive. They allowed people to imagine that other arrangements are feasible, even for society as a whole, since it was always possible to fantasize about carnival bursting its seams and becoming the new reality. ... "May Day came to be chosen as the date for the international workers’ holiday largely because so many British peasant revolts had historically begun on that riotous festival. Villagers who played at ‘turning the world upside’ would periodically decide they actually preferred the world upside down, and took measures to keep it that way."</p></blockquote>

While by no means thinking of Comic Con's attendees as 'villagers' If we might think about what sort of political position the 'fan' represent with respect to the major studios. Playing 'Queen for the Day' has a direct relationship to the power structures of the day, but is pretending to be Iron Man a different repositioning? While fans of the genre will often decry that mainstream criticism is dismissive of the nuanced, richly political and social commentary that the most celebrated are built around, Comic Con itself doesn't immediately seem like an hotbed of revolutionary action, accidentally erupting or otherwise.

<p>While by no means thinking of Comic Con's attendees as 'villagers' If we might think about what sort of political position the 'fan' represent with respect to the major studios. Playing 'Queen for the Day' has a direct relationship to the power structures of the day, but is pretending to be Iron Man a different repositioning? While fans of the genre will often decry that mainstream criticism is dismissive of the nuanced, richly political and social commentary that the most celebrated are built around, Comic Con itself doesn't immediately seem like an hotbed of revolutionary action, accidentally erupting or otherwise.</p>

There is a reversal of sorts in operation though, these billion dollar industries could not exist without their fanbases and in a sense Cosplay is the assertion of the value of the fan identity. If a sizeable chunk of your disposable income, time, attention and perhaps most importantly <em>imagination</em> is sunk into these worlds, it's not unreasonable to read Cosplay as the a kind of ritualistic challenge to a mode of sovereignty and system of rules.

<p>There is a reversal of sorts in operation though, these billion dollar industries could not exist without their fanbases and in a sense Cosplay is the assertion of the value of the fan identity. If a sizeable chunk of your disposable income, time, attention and perhaps most importantly <em>imagination</em> is sunk into these worlds, it's not unreasonable to read Cosplay as the a kind of ritualistic challenge to a mode of sovereignty and system of rules.</p>

Curiously government action in Japan is likely to <a href="https://www.klemchuk.com/ideate/cosplay-in-japan-faces-new-copyright-law" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bring Cosplay under copyright law</a> where it has previously existed in something of a legal grey area that was mutually beneficial for fans and rights holders alike. The introduction of similar rules elsewhere could seriously destabilise fan-creator relationships. A curious feature of the contemporary fanbase it's self-awareness. To be a mature fan is also to navigate between IP's, aware of the frequently transactional nature of the experiences on offer, the shadiness of certain operators, to preempt the expiry date of a given character and to appreciate the purchasing power afforded by of one's own obsessions.

<p>Curiously government action in Japan is likely to <a href="https://www.klemchuk.com/ideate/cosplay-in-japan-faces-new-copyright-law" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bring Cosplay under copyright law</a> where it has previously existed in something of a legal grey area that was mutually beneficial for fans and rights holders alike. The introduction of similar rules elsewhere could seriously destabilise fan-creator relationships. A curious feature of the contemporary fanbase it's self-awareness. To be a mature fan is also to navigate between IP's, aware of the frequently transactional nature of the experiences on offer, the shadiness of certain operators, to preempt the expiry date of a given character and to appreciate the purchasing power afforded by of one's own obsessions. </p>

A paper Graeber and Wengrow's reflection on rituals is partly drawn from is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972203?seq=1">Adam Seligman</a>'s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972203?seq=1">Ritual, the Self, and Sincerity, (2008)</a>, he writes:

<p>A paper Graeber and Wengrow's reflection on rituals is partly drawn from is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972203?seq=1">Adam Seligman</a>'s <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972203?seq=1">Ritual, the Self, and Sincerity, (2008)</a>, he writes:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>... pure ritual puts questions of belief or truth aside in favor of the shared world... Thus ritual encompasses the ambiguity of life in a unique manner. It allows one to "play" with such ambiguity in a manner precluded by an undue concern with the authenticity of one's actions and beliefs. Ritual unshackles the mind from a need to believe in a dogma of our choosing, as long as we act properly. Ritual then is a critical device that allows us to live with ambiguity and the lack of full understanding.&nbsp;</p><cite>- <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40972203?seq=1">Adam B. Seligman,</a></cite></blockquote>

Speculating somewhat reductively, intense fandom also seems like an appropriate reaction to the increasing complexity of everyday life and the exponential growth in available information and connectivity. Fictional universes clearly offer escapism and respite from an otherwise extremely noisy reality while fostering real communality, at a time when many other institutions seem genuinely unable to. So while drawing a coherent politics from fandom is complicated, it maybe be useful source material for understanding political solidarity, if only for the quality of the relationships it establishes and the ease at which it's participants dissolve their differences.

<p>Speculating somewhat reductively, intense fandom also seems like an appropriate reaction to the increasing complexity of everyday life and the exponential growth in available information and connectivity. Fictional universes clearly offer escapism and respite from an otherwise extremely noisy reality while fostering real communality, at a time when many other institutions seem genuinely unable to. So while drawing a coherent politics from fandom is complicated, it maybe be useful source material for understanding political solidarity, if only for the quality of the relationships it establishes and the ease at which it's participants dissolve their differences. </p>

<p>As the slogan runs, <em>It's On Like Comic Con.</em></p>

0004 – It’s On Like Comic Con

Written in collaboration with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eddieblake_now/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eddie Blake</a>.

<p>Written in collaboration with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eddieblake_now/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eddie Blake</a>.</p>

<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>This essay was published as part of "Dixit Algorizmi – The Garden of Knowledge" the catalog of the Pavilion of the Republic of Uzbekistan at The Venice Biennale 2022. Dixit Algorizmi - The Garden of Knowledge&nbsp;is an ongoing exhibition and research project curated by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.spacecaviar.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Space Caviar</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sheida_ghomashchi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sheida Ghomashchi</a>, reflecting on the history of technology and its relationship with contemporary artistic production.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The full book is for sale here: <a href="https://www.humboldtbooks.com/en/book/dixit-algorizmi">https://www.humboldtbooks.com/en/book/dixit-algorizmi</a></p></div>

<div class="wp-block-columns alignwide"><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/279628203_166385555799664_4064652710698118641_n-1024x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-2553"/></figure></div><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><p>This essay was published as part of "Dixit Algorizmi – The Garden of Knowledge" the catalog of the Pavilion of the Republic of Uzbekistan at The Venice Biennale 2022. Dixit Algorizmi - The Garden of Knowledge&nbsp;is an ongoing exhibition and research project curated by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.spacecaviar.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Space Caviar</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sheida_ghomashchi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sheida Ghomashchi</a>, reflecting on the history of technology and its relationship with contemporary artistic production.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>The full book is for sale here: <a href="https://www.humboldtbooks.com/en/book/dixit-algorizmi">https://www.humboldtbooks.com/en/book/dixit-algorizmi</a></p></div></div>

Today, the map lies scattered across billions of data points—infinite subjective views on digital screens, all updating in real- time. Far from being a unifying, stabilising phenomenon as it once was, the map is now fractured. How did we get here, and what does this mean for our worldview?

<p>Today, the map lies scattered across billions of data points—infinite subjective views on digital screens, all updating in real- time. Far from being a unifying, stabilising phenomenon as it once was, the map is now fractured. How did we get here, and what does this mean for our worldview?</p>

Arguably, the trajectory that has led us to Uber and Google Maps started when al-Khwārizmī compiled <em>Kitāb Sūrat al-Ard</em> (The Book of the Description of the Earth), a book that encapsulated the whole known world into a single edition. Distilling something as complex as the world into a single book was, and still is, a dramatic feat of imaginative abstraction. In that process, the world had been reformed — the territory transposed onto the map. In this essay, we discuss what is so important about the map, how it has evolved, and the unnerving idea that whoever makes the map, also makes us.

<p>Arguably, the trajectory that has led us to Uber and Google Maps started when al-Khwārizmī compiled <em>Kitāb Sūrat al-Ard</em> (The Book of the Description of the Earth), a book that encapsulated the whole known world into a single edition. Distilling something as complex as the world into a single book was, and still is, a dramatic feat of imaginative abstraction. In that process, the world had been reformed — the territory transposed onto the map. In this essay, we discuss what is so important about the map, how it has evolved, and the unnerving idea that whoever makes the map, also makes us. </p>

The Book and al-Khwārizmī’s wider output were highly influential for generations of map-makers. In c. 830, he was a key figure in the production of the pioneering world map commissioned by caliph al-Ma’mūn. In the 11th century cartographical collection, <em>The Book of Curiosities</em>,<sup><a href="#references">1</a></sup> several maps appear to be largely based on al-Khwārizmī’s data tables. Similarly, al-Khwārizmī’s influential Zij — or collected volume of astronomical data — would also prove influential, being republished centuries after al-Khwārizmī’s death in the <em>Toledan Tables</em>, a key source for medieval astronomy.<sup><a href="#references">2</a></sup> What made al-Khwārizmī’s map-making influential wasn’t the visual representations, or even the visible graphics at all, but the way he calculated data and articulated new mathematical tools.<sup><a href="#references">3</a></sup> His contribution was the unseen infrastructure, the dark matter of coding, which underpins a map’s visual representation.

<p>The Book and al-Khwārizmī’s wider output were highly influential for generations of map-makers. In c. 830, he was a key figure in the production of the pioneering world map commissioned by caliph al-Ma’mūn. In the 11th century cartographical collection, <em>The Book of Curiosities</em>,<sup><a href="#references">1</a></sup> several maps appear to be largely based on al-Khwārizmī’s data tables. Similarly, al-Khwārizmī’s influential Zij — or collected volume of astronomical data — would also prove influential, being republished centuries after al-Khwārizmī’s death in the <em>Toledan Tables</em>, a key source for medieval astronomy.<sup><a href="#references">2</a></sup> What made al-Khwārizmī’s map-making influential wasn’t the visual representations, or even the visible graphics at all, but the way he calculated data and articulated new mathematical tools.<sup><a href="#references">3</a></sup> His contribution was the unseen infrastructure, the dark matter of coding, which underpins a map’s visual representation.</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image alignwide size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-World-map-of-the-Caliph-al-Mamun-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2534"/><figcaption>“The World map of the Caliph al- Ma’mūn,” 833 Kitāb Masālik al-Absār by ibn Fadlallāh al-Umarī (d. 1349), MS 2797/1 Ahmet III Collection, Topkapı Sarayı Library, Istanbul</figcaption></figure>

Al-Khwārizmī’s expansion of spherical trigonometric techniques, in turn, enlarged the measurable world as foundational tools in mapping and projection for a millennium. Perhaps the foremost practical aspiration of his time was to find accurate calculations of Qibla:<sup><a href="#references">4</a></sup> the direction of Mecca. But the underlying logic of this practical applica- tion from the Middle Ages also lays the groundwork for the contemporary mathematical operations which underpin data processing within Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and more broadly across Geodesy.

<p>Al-Khwārizmī’s expansion of spherical trigonometric techniques, in turn, enlarged the measurable world as foundational tools in mapping and projection for a millennium. Perhaps the foremost practical aspiration of his time was to find accurate calculations of Qibla:<sup><a href="#references">4</a></sup> the direction of Mecca. But the underlying logic of this practical applica- tion from the Middle Ages also lays the groundwork for the contemporary mathematical operations which underpin data processing within Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and more broadly across Geodesy. </p>

Fluency with algebraic calculation, knowledge of gnomonics (the design of sundials), astronomy, and the astrolabe (the design of mechanical models of the universe) is what enabled al-Khwārizmī to compile such accurate data. Taken together, we may consider his prodigious output of mathematical knowledge an embryonic foray into the production of big data — from abstract foundational trigonometric values to astronomical data and cartographic locations. Such data would ultimately become the basis of how the world is ordered. In al-Khwārizmī’s work, we can see an early expression of the now commonplace powerful rela- tionship between reality, abstraction, and data.

<p>Fluency with algebraic calculation, knowledge of gnomonics (the design of sundials), astronomy, and the astrolabe (the design of mechanical models of the universe) is what enabled al-Khwārizmī to compile such accurate data. Taken together, we may consider his prodigious output of mathematical knowledge an embryonic foray into the production of big data — from abstract foundational trigonometric values to astronomical data and cartographic locations. Such data would ultimately become the basis of how the world is ordered. In al-Khwārizmī’s work, we can see an early expression of the now commonplace powerful rela- tionship between reality, abstraction, and data. </p>

While superficially neutral surveys of ground truth, maps are of course anything but ideologically passive. Architects and urban planners instinctively separate the idea of the map from the most fundamental tool in their work, the plan, but it may be more instructive to consider them as connected cousins. Understanding the differences between the map and the plan is not immediately obvious. In fact, they can be superficially indistinguishable. Both represent less than what is actually there, by distilling information and setting up a hierarchy of what is important or not. There is a difference of intent also: plans arepropositional, maps are descriptive. The map is a space in which we share the location of discovered objects. The plan reveals the order of things that have been or will be arranged.

<p>While superficially neutral surveys of ground truth, maps are of course anything but ideologically passive. Architects and urban planners instinctively separate the idea of the map from the most fundamental tool in their work, the plan, but it may be more instructive to consider them as connected cousins. Understanding the differences between the map and the plan is not immediately obvious. In fact, they can be superficially indistinguishable. Both represent less than what is actually there, by distilling information and setting up a hierarchy of what is important or not. There is a difference of intent also: plans arepropositional, maps are descriptive. The map is a space in which we share the location of discovered objects. The plan reveals the order of things that have been or will be arranged.</p>

Historically, map-makers refined the boundaries between what was known and what wasn’t. What existed outside —<em> terra incognita</em> — constituted a call to discovery and imagination. As far-flung cities entered geography, they became elements of military strategies and trade networks. All places were once uncharted space. The map makes room for the plan.

<p>Historically, map-makers refined the boundaries between what was known and what wasn’t. What existed outside —<em> terra incognita</em> — constituted a call to discovery and imagination. As far-flung cities entered geography, they became elements of military strategies and trade networks. All places were once uncharted space. The map makes room for the plan. </p>

A map is a series of symbolic gestures, a series of tricks and abstractions; scale, symbols, keys, orientation, all work to quickly communicate something unfathomably complex. These tricks work through a kind of map infrastructure, made up of projections, grids, and tabulated data. Yet, in the age of screens, we have another conceptual leap to make: resolution. It is the measure of an image, which quantifies how much information exists in a space. It is an estranged cousin of scale. When we can zoom and scroll, suddenly resolution becomes the key quality that allows us to see through the layers of representation and glimpse the data beneath. The higher the resolution, the closer to reality we get. But even at the highest resolution, the map doesn’t become the territory.

<p>A map is a series of symbolic gestures, a series of tricks and abstractions; scale, symbols, keys, orientation, all work to quickly communicate something unfathomably complex. These tricks work through a kind of map infrastructure, made up of projections, grids, and tabulated data. Yet, in the age of screens, we have another conceptual leap to make: resolution. It is the measure of an image, which quantifies how much information exists in a space. It is an estranged cousin of scale. When we can zoom and scroll, suddenly resolution becomes the key quality that allows us to see through the layers of representation and glimpse the data beneath. The higher the resolution, the closer to reality we get. But even at the highest resolution, the map doesn’t become the territory. </p>

Comparing ‘the map’ and ‘the territory’ is a philosophical issue as old as mapping itself. It is possible to forget that the elementary difference between the two is that ‘maps’ exist by virtue of a trick — by mathematical projection — abstracting the near-spherical earth into a two-dimensional geometry. This process is an example of the human capacity to abstract, simplify, and approximate. So, when we ask “who makes the map” we are also asking what kind of abstraction is taking place. Grids, coordinate systems, and projections do not physically exist out there in hard reality. They occur in the conceptual space of possi- bilities in which geographic knowledge exists.

<p>Comparing ‘the map’ and ‘the territory’ is a philosophical issue as old as mapping itself. It is possible to forget that the elementary difference between the two is that ‘maps’ exist by virtue of a trick — by mathematical projection — abstracting the near-spherical earth into a two-dimensional geometry. This process is an example of the human capacity to abstract, simplify, and approximate. So, when we ask “who makes the map” we are also asking what kind of abstraction is taking place. Grids, coordinate systems, and projections do not physically exist out there in hard reality. They occur in the conceptual space of possi- bilities in which geographic knowledge exists. </p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/457726" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/main-image.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-2529"/></a><figcaption>Incomplete tile panel (ca. 1430), attributed to Damascus, Syria. Source: The Met</figcaption></figure>

In Islamic medieval maps, the earth is most commonly shown as a circle, sometimes an oval, only occasionally a rectangle.<sup><a href="#references">5</a></sup> The circle usually showed the poles reversed with the South at the top and represented a simplified projection of the single hemisphere that was believed to be inhabited. In this graphic construction, we can see what the map-makers’ contemporaries believed the world to be like, and perhaps what they wished the world to be like.

<p>In Islamic medieval maps, the earth is most commonly shown as a circle, sometimes an oval, only occasionally a rectangle.<sup><a href="#references">5</a></sup> The circle usually showed the poles reversed with the South at the top and represented a simplified projection of the single hemisphere that was believed to be inhabited. In this graphic construction, we can see what the map-makers’ contemporaries believed the world to be like, and perhaps what they wished the world to be like.</p>

<h2><strong>The Shape of The Earth</strong></h2>

In <em>The Book of the Description of the Earth</em>, al-Khwārizmī expands directly from Ptolemy’s contributions to cartography and the original invention of the science of geography. <em>The Geography</em> of Ptolemy (and, in turn, al-Khwārizmī) locates objects and places in relation to the whole, across the unfolded surface of the planet, rather than with each other. Ptolemy also proposed several map projections, the most complete attempt to systematise the coordinates through which places might be located.<sup><a href="#references">6</a></sup>

<p>In <em>The Book of the Description of the Earth</em>, al-Khwārizmī expands directly from Ptolemy’s contributions to cartography and the original invention of the science of geography. <em>The Geography</em> of Ptolemy (and, in turn, al-Khwārizmī) locates objects and places in relation to the whole, across the unfolded surface of the planet, rather than with each other. Ptolemy also proposed several map projections, the most complete attempt to systematise the coordinates through which places might be located.<sup><a href="#references">6</a></sup> </p>

Geography, in its classical form, was the study of where things are relative to the greater planetary whole, rather than each other. For al-Khwārizmī, his map data could represent something akin to an objective grounded truth about the world, which could be continually refined and made more accurate. Any map, however, encodes a world view — co-locating the viewer and the observed — guiding the reader through a territory and, therefore, inscribing it. In turn, the map reshapes the represented territory.

<p>Geography, in its classical form, was the study of where things are relative to the greater planetary whole, rather than each other. For al-Khwārizmī, his map data could represent something akin to an objective grounded truth about the world, which could be continually refined and made more accurate. Any map, however, encodes a world view — co-locating the viewer and the observed — guiding the reader through a territory and, therefore, inscribing it. In turn, the map reshapes the represented territory. </p>

A feature of our contemporary world so comprehensively mapped is that there is no outside to the geographic boundary of knowledge. Instead, the focus of analysis is on charting all things and their interactions, all the time. The binary between mapped and unknown gives way to refresh rates and image analysis artefacts. When did we last scan how reliable is the algorithm? The 16-inch pixels of the GeoEye-1 satellites give way to the 1cm-per-pixel resolutions of real-time drone feeds and hungry laser-focused eyes of autonomous vehicles.

<p>A feature of our contemporary world so comprehensively mapped is that there is no outside to the geographic boundary of knowledge. Instead, the focus of analysis is on charting all things and their interactions, all the time. The binary between mapped and unknown gives way to refresh rates and image analysis artefacts. When did we last scan how reliable is the algorithm? The 16-inch pixels of the GeoEye-1 satellites give way to the 1cm-per-pixel resolutions of real-time drone feeds and hungry laser-focused eyes of autonomous vehicles.</p>

<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-04-at-13.06.59.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2532"/><figcaption><strong>Grid cell firing patterns; bird’s eye view. See Tor Stensola and Edvard I. Moser, “Grid Cells and Spatial Maps in Entorhinal Cortex and Hippocampus,” 2016</strong></figcaption></figure></div>

<div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-04-at-13.07.22.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2531"/><figcaption> <strong>A unified theory for the origin of grid cells through the lens of pattern formation, Ben Sorscher, Gabriel C. Mel, Surya Ganguli,Samuel A. Ocko. 2019, Advances in Neural Information Pro- cessing Systems 32 (NeurIPS 2019). Results of multi-grid pattern forming dynamics with nonnegativity constraint show regular hexagonal grids across multiple spatial scales</strong></figcaption></figure></div>

<div class="wp-block-columns alignwide"><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-04-at-13.06.59.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2532"/><figcaption><strong>Grid cell firing patterns; bird’s eye view. See Tor Stensola and Edvard I. Moser, “Grid Cells and Spatial Maps in Entorhinal Cortex and Hippocampus,” 2016</strong></figcaption></figure></div><div class="wp-block-column" style="flex-basis:50%"><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-04-at-13.07.22.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2531"/><figcaption> <strong>A unified theory for the origin of grid cells through the lens of pattern formation, Ben Sorscher, Gabriel C. Mel, Surya Ganguli,Samuel A. Ocko. 2019, Advances in Neural Information Pro- cessing Systems 32 (NeurIPS 2019). Results of multi-grid pattern forming dynamics with nonnegativity constraint show regular hexagonal grids across multiple spatial scales</strong></figcaption></figure></div></div>

Contemporary neurobiology can shed light on this subject. How we conceive of space, increasingly appears to inform how memory and knowledge are structured in our brains. The rife spatial metaphors throughout language seem to stem from the map-like structures of memory.

<p>Contemporary neurobiology can shed light on this subject. How we conceive of space, increasingly appears to inform how memory and knowledge are structured in our brains. The rife spatial metaphors throughout language seem to stem from the map-like structures of memory.</p>

We can see this demonstrated in the physical neural mech- anisms at play in the most basic functions of perception such as neurons known as grid cells and place cells. These neurons, roughly speaking, allow us to orientate ourselves, and help us locate things respectively.<sup><a href="#references">7</a></sup> A core difference between these two neural architectures is that place cells encode specific objects and landmarks in relation to each other, while grid cells operate as a hexagonal coordinate system. Here, in the most basic unit of our cognition, is the basis for the map and the plan.

<p>We can see this demonstrated in the physical neural mech- anisms at play in the most basic functions of perception such as neurons known as grid cells and place cells. These neurons, roughly speaking, allow us to orientate ourselves, and help us locate things respectively.<sup><a href="#references">7</a></sup> A core difference between these two neural architectures is that place cells encode specific objects and landmarks in relation to each other, while grid cells operate as a hexagonal coordinate system. Here, in the most basic unit of our cognition, is the basis for the map and the plan.</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://h3geo.org"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-04-at-13.06.52.png" alt="" class="wp-image-2533"/></a><figcaption><strong>H3: Uber’s Hexagonal Hierarchical Spatial Index</strong>. Source: https://h3geo.org</figcaption></figure>

One might assume that al-Khwārizmī was familiar with the politics that enabled his scholarly pursuits. His work was underwritten by the patronage of the caliph and the House of Wisdom. The work was at the core of a top-down cultural and political programme to absorb and develop the knowledge of the Hellenistic world initiated by the caliphs, the so-called ‘translation movement.’ The maps not only encode a worldview, but project an idea of worldly power. No matter how abstract the field one works in, it is inevitably tethered back to the social reality of a political context. Today the equivalent of al-Khwārizmī’s work is being carried out by the software engineers and data-wranglers of planetary-scale platforms such as Uber.

<p>One might assume that al-Khwārizmī was familiar with the politics that enabled his scholarly pursuits. His work was underwritten by the patronage of the caliph and the House of Wisdom. The work was at the core of a top-down cultural and political programme to absorb and develop the knowledge of the Hellenistic world initiated by the caliphs, the so-called ‘translation movement.’ The maps not only encode a worldview, but project an idea of worldly power. No matter how abstract the field one works in, it is inevitably tethered back to the social reality of a political context. Today the equivalent of al-Khwārizmī’s work is being carried out by the software engineers and data-wranglers of planetary-scale platforms such as Uber.</p>

Alongside its core businesses, Uber has played a key role in the engineering of rapidly scalable data infrastructures. In the past few years, Uber has been broken and reformed by its own popularity. As user numbers exploded, the vast number of trips and locations flowing through the core technology meant that the infrastructure had to be rebuilt. The Uber app originally spawning from a single monolithic codebase was ‘rearchitected’ into a distributed system of robust ‘micro-services.’

<p>Alongside its core businesses, Uber has played a key role in the engineering of rapidly scalable data infrastructures. In the past few years, Uber has been broken and reformed by its own popularity. As user numbers exploded, the vast number of trips and locations flowing through the core technology meant that the infrastructure had to be rebuilt. The Uber app originally spawning from a single monolithic codebase was ‘rearchitected’ into a distributed system of robust ‘micro-services.’ </p>

This was a daunting task given the scale of its operations, but one that has attracted many of the world’s most capable developers. One output has been H3,<sup><a href="#references">8</a></sup> a new approach to global mapping utilising nested hexagons (and pentagons) to form a universal grid system that scales for the entire earth without the exaggerated extremes of other cartographic projections.

<p>This was a daunting task given the scale of its operations, but one that has attracted many of the world’s most capable developers. One output has been H3,<sup><a href="#references">8</a></sup> a new approach to global mapping utilising nested hexagons (and pentagons) to form a universal grid system that scales for the entire earth without the exaggerated extremes of other cartographic projections. </p>

H3 is an example of a “discrete global grid system.”<sup><a href="#references">9</a></sup> Such grids are generated by “recursive tessellation” so that each scale or resolution of the grid is formed of nested smaller versions of the same pattern, allowing for theoretically infinite scaling while using grid elements of different sizes within the same mapping. So, for instance, a large empty region can occupy far less of the memory over-heads compared to a dense city. Hexagons (rather than squares) allow for a much faster computational addressability by storing every location with a single 64-bit integer, as opposed to longer and more computationally costly latitude and longitude. These hexagons also help compensate for a problem within urban data visualisation at the scale of street networks. The problem lies in using a square grid to distribute data coordinates when overlaid with cities built according to particularly strong grids. This problem gets worse if the grids nearly align.

<p>H3 is an example of a “discrete global grid system.”<sup><a href="#references">9</a></sup> Such grids are generated by “recursive tessellation” so that each scale or resolution of the grid is formed of nested smaller versions of the same pattern, allowing for theoretically infinite scaling while using grid elements of different sizes within the same mapping. So, for instance, a large empty region can occupy far less of the memory over-heads compared to a dense city. Hexagons (rather than squares) allow for a much faster computational addressability by storing every location with a single 64-bit integer, as opposed to longer and more computationally costly latitude and longitude. These hexagons also help compensate for a problem within urban data visualisation at the scale of street networks. The problem lies in using a square grid to distribute data coordinates when overlaid with cities built according to particularly strong grids. This problem gets worse if the grids nearly align.</p>

H3 anticipates a world where data production continues to explode, driven by an exponential growth in sensors and cameras required for automated vehicles. Crack open the boot of Uber’s last generation of experimental autonomous cars and you will find a colossal rig of CPUs, GPUs, and storage processing data points so numerous that wireless networks cannot currently provide the bandwidth to fully transmit them. This is the engine of the next cartography, underscored by machine intelligence.

<p>H3 anticipates a world where data production continues to explode, driven by an exponential growth in sensors and cameras required for automated vehicles. Crack open the boot of Uber’s last generation of experimental autonomous cars and you will find a colossal rig of CPUs, GPUs, and storage processing data points so numerous that wireless networks cannot currently provide the bandwidth to fully transmit them. This is the engine of the next cartography, underscored by machine intelligence.</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Darb-i_Imam_shrine_spandrel.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2527"/><figcaption>Girih tile subdivision found in the decagonal girih pattern on a spandrel from the Darb-e Imam shrine in Isfahan. Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Darb-i_Imam_shrine_spandrel.JPG">Wiki Commons</a></figcaption></figure>

Uber’s mapping system&nbsp;—&nbsp;and even perhaps the images of our neural grid cells&nbsp;—&nbsp;are curiously reminiscent of the geometric patterns found within Islamic architecture. The earliest examples of this hexagon-based pattern first appeared towards the end of al-Khwārizmī’s life in 836 at the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. It has been argued that the emergence of such patterns was influenced by the work of al-Khwārizmī and his contemporaries to reinterpret and expand upon the mathematics of Euclidean geometry,<a href="#references"><sup>10</sup></a>&nbsp;especially within the context of Islamic cosmology. As such we might see maps (and the way they are constructed) as artefacts that allow us to glimpse some of the most fundamental workings of our minds. Understood in this way, maps are part of a cyclical cultural production, where they are both the product and the manufacturer of minds.

<p>Uber’s mapping system&nbsp;—&nbsp;and even perhaps the images of our neural grid cells&nbsp;—&nbsp;are curiously reminiscent of the geometric patterns found within Islamic architecture. The earliest examples of this hexagon-based pattern first appeared towards the end of al-Khwārizmī’s life in 836 at the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia. It has been argued that the emergence of such patterns was influenced by the work of al-Khwārizmī and his contemporaries to reinterpret and expand upon the mathematics of Euclidean geometry,<a href="#references"><sup>10</sup></a>&nbsp;especially within the context of Islamic cosmology. As such we might see maps (and the way they are constructed) as artefacts that allow us to glimpse some of the most fundamental workings of our minds. Understood in this way, maps are part of a cyclical cultural production, where they are both the product and the manufacturer of minds.</p>

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://writing-api.burman.work/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/main-image-2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-2528"/><figcaption>Hexagonal pattern bottle, 9th–10th century, attributed to Iran. Source: <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451716" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Met</a></figcaption></figure>

Our worldview can appear so stable and consistent with the facts as we perceive them, that it sometimes appears to be as unimpeachable as revealed truth. But by scratching the surface, we find that the underpinning of any worldview is a construct. Through grids, co-ordinate systems, projections, or tabulated data, we make maps that order, distil, and re-present the world, in turn, altering our perceptions of it. We live in an era when the construction and configuration of such knowledge are undergoing a revolution as dramatic as the original contributions of al-Khwārizmī. We are already feeling the tremors of this reconfiguration. We should pay attention to the construction of this knowledge, because whoever makes the maps, ultimately makes us.

<p>Our worldview can appear so stable and consistent with the facts as we perceive them, that it sometimes appears to be as unimpeachable as revealed truth. But by scratching the surface, we find that the underpinning of any worldview is a construct. Through grids, co-ordinate systems, projections, or tabulated data, we make maps that order, distil, and re-present the world, in turn, altering our perceptions of it. We live in an era when the construction and configuration of such knowledge are undergoing a revolution as dramatic as the original contributions of al-Khwārizmī. We are already feeling the tremors of this reconfiguration. We should pay attention to the construction of this knowledge, because whoever makes the maps, ultimately makes us.</p>

<p id="references"><strong>References</strong></p>

core/list

<ol><li>Yossef Rapoport, Emilie Savage- Smith,&nbsp;<em>An Eleventh-Century Egyptian Guide to the Universe, The Book of Curiosities</em>, Brill, 2014</li><li>Gerald J. Toomer, “<em>Al-Khwarizmi</em>” in Charles Coulston Gillispie (ed.),&nbsp;<em>Dictionary of Scientific Biography</em>, vol. 7, Gale Cengage, 1981</li><li>Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Fadlallāh&nbsp;<em>Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic&nbsp;</em>al-Umarī, “<em>The Mamunic World Map.</em>”&nbsp;<em>Science</em>, vol. 1, Routledge, 1996. </li><li>Edward S. Kennedy, “Mathematical Geography,” in Roshdi Rashed (ed.),</li><li>Cyrus Alai, “<em>Mapping the Mediterranean: By the Cartographers of Medieval Islamic Societies</em>” in&nbsp;<em>Journal of the International Map Collectors’</em></li><li>O.A.W. Dilke, “The Culmination of Greek Cartography in Ptolemy,” in J.B. Harley, David Woodward (eds.), <em>The History of Cartography Volume 1:&nbsp;</em>Press, 1987.&nbsp;<em>Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient</em>, <em>and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean</em>, The University of Chicago </li><li>Jordana Cepelewicz, “<em>The Brain Maps Out Ideas and Memories Like Spaces</em>” in&nbsp;<em>Quanta Magazine</em>, January 14, 2019.</li><li>Hexagonal Hierarchical Geospatial Indexing System 2018, <em><a href="http://h3geo.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">h3geo.org</a></em></li><li>OGC DGGS Standards Working Group <em><a href="http://www.ogc.org/projects/groups/dggsswg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">www.ogc.org/projects/groups/dggsswg</a></em>.</li><li>Yahya Abdullahi, Mohamed pp. 243–251. Rashid Bin Embi, <em>“Evolution of Islamic Geometric Patterns”</em> in&nbsp;Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2013, vol. 2</li></ol>