Mapping Mundi and Mongo; Cartography of the Unknown

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Map of the planet Mongo from the Flash Gordon comic strip, created by Alex Raymond and Don Moore (1934)

After an interesting conversation at a pelican crossing and a very productive tutorial, Marie-Claire draws my ever hungry attention to several sources of interest.

Firstly the Self Made Worlds exhibition curated by our Tutor Kim Pace.

"Please find below an invitation to 'Self Made Worlds', an exhibition I've curated for Wimbledon Space, University of Arts that runs between 4th October and 22nd November. 

Self Made Worlds comprises artists and designers who depict tableaux, artificial environments and alternative realities, constructed either as sculpture, props and models, or as subjects for photography, painting and animated film."

http://ual.force.com/apex/EventFormPage?id=a0RD0000008m3jWMAQ&book=true

Secondly, the Mappa Mundi, a 13th Century medieval map of startling richness and detail that is signed by, and attributed to, Richard of Haldingham and Lafford. The Map is displayed in the collection at Hereford Cathedral.

Mappa Mundi, Hereford Cathedral

The Mappa Mundi shows the holy city of Jerusalem at the centre of the world, surrounded by major landmarks and cities. The map is hand drawn on a single sheet of vellum measuring 158 cm by 133 cm, and illustrated with locations from classical mythology alongside Biblical characters and scenes. The Garden of Eden circumscribes the entire map, located outside the world whilst simultaneously enveloping it, and the whole is surmounted by the Crucified Christ.

Like all maps, the Mappa Mundi reflects the social and cultural preoccupations of the time it was created. The centre of the World Map is Jerusalem, the most important religious centre of the medieval world, the Judeo-Christian 'promised' Kingdom on Earth. It has areas of mystery and the Unknown, where wild beasts and strange creatures roam.

The central focus of an important socio-cultural and religious landmark is something I want to incorporate into the design of the WorldMap for ShardWay.
 
The BBC featured this map in their "History of the World in 100 objects" series:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/zrKd-Z0wS7CSYjB_DlRbrA

       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndijfk-ayuI

 Here's a link to an explanation of the Mappa Mundi on Wikipedia Commons:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mappa_mundi_Hereford_1300_explained.png

Marie-Claire also introduces me to a book about World Building:


Mark J.P. Wolf (2013) "Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Sub-Creation", Routledge.

I've ordered this book from the library. In the meantime I found a series on Henry Jenkin's blog in which he interviews Mark J.P. Wolf on the subject of World Building.

http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html

World-Building is a fascinating subject and, until my discussion with Marie-Claire, I didn't fully realise my natural inclination to create coherent fictional universes is a personal skill that can be translated into a marketable skill.

As Henry Jenkins explains, when pitching Innovative Product and related trans-media content, "a world can support multiple stories involving multiple characters across multiple media platforms." 

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling. - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpuf

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpuf

the concept of world building has become foundational to discussions of transmedia storytelling - See more at: http://henryjenkins.org/2013/09/building-imaginary-worlds-an-interview-with-mark-j-p-wolf-part-one.html#sthash.KzL3VBEy.dpu