{"id":1788902,"date":"2020-06-17T09:25:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T13:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1788902"},"modified":"2020-07-02T08:46:20","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T12:46:20","slug":"bending-lines-an-online-exhibition-from-the-leventhal-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/06\/bending-lines-an-online-exhibition-from-the-leventhal-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Bending Lines, an Online Exhibition from the Leventhal Center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leventhalmap.org\/digital-exhibitions\/bending-lines\/\"><strong><em>Bending Lines: Maps and Data From Distortion to Deception<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, the latest exhibition from the Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library, is a wide-ranging, comprehensive look at the relationship between maps and the truth. We expect maps not to lie, but maps have misled, propagandized or at the very least provided a particular perspective for as long as there have been maps.<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.leventhalmap.org\/digital-exhibitions\/bending-lines\/intro\/\"><p>Every map is a representation of reality, and every representation, no matter how accurate and honest, involves simplification, symbolization, and selective attention. Even when a map isn\u2019t actively trying to deceive its readers, it still must reduce the complexity of the real world, emphasizing some features and hiding others. Compressing the round globe onto a flat sheet of paper, and converting places, people, and statistics into symbols, lines, and colors is a process inherently fraught with distortion. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>In <em>Bending Lines: Maps and Data From Distortion to Deception<\/em>, we explore the many ways in which maps have \u201cbent\u201d reality and created a picture of the world that is oftentimes more real than reality itself. Some of the maps in this exhibition are deliberately nefarious, created by people or institutions who are trying to mislead or persuade. But for many of the others, the relationship between map and truth is more ambiguous. Some maps dim a certain type of truth in order to let another type of interpretation shine through, while others classify and categorize the world in ways that should raise our skepticism. And for some of the maps shown here, the persuasive goal isn\u2019t trickery but liberation, as they seek to raise awareness of truths that were previously obscured or oppressed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This exhibition was to have launched last month, but thanks to the pandemic has had to go fully online. Tackling everything from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/tag\/persuasive-cartography\/\">persuasive cartography<\/a> to map projections to the sort of thing Mark Monmonier talks about in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/o\/ASIN\/022643592X\/maproom-20\"><em>How to Lie with Maps<\/em><\/a>, it\u2019s an enormous undertaking in more than one sense.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.citylab.com\/design\/2020\/05\/map-history-data-literacy-propaganda-exhibit-bending-lines\/612157\/\"><em>CityLab<\/em>\u2019s Laura Biss interviews<\/a> the Leventhal\u2019s curator, Garrett Dash Nelson, about the exhibition.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Update, 2 July<\/em>:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/harvardmagazine.com\/2020\/06\/boston-maps-exhibit-on-persuasive-cartography\"><em>Harvard Magazine<\/em> looks at the exhibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bending Lines: Maps and Data From Distortion to Deception, the latest exhibition from the Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library, is a wide-ranging, comprehensive look at the relationship between maps and&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/06\/bending-lines-an-online-exhibition-from-the-leventhal-center\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[218,50,886],"class_list":["post-1788902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-cartography","tag-bpl","tag-exhibitions","tag-leventhal","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1786392,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/10\/new-exhibition-at-the-leventhal-crossing-boundaries\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":0},"title":"New Exhibition at the Leventhal: Crossing Boundaries","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 October 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"A new exhibition opened at the Leventhal Map Center today: Crossing Boundaries: Art \/\/ Maps \"juxtaposes contemporary works of art with selected maps from the collections of the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center at the Boston Public Library. These pairings and trios create dialogues that illuminate the crossing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/crossing-boundaries-leventhal-92x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1831161,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/05\/new-leventhal-exhibition-heaven-and-earth-the-blue-maps-of-china\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":1},"title":"New Leventhal Exhibition: &#8216;Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of China&#8217;","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 May 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Daqing wannian yitong dili quantu (Suzhou, ca. 1820). Map, Prussian blue ink on xuan paper mounted as folding screen, 112\u00d7249 cm. MacLean Collection Map Library, Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center. A new exhibition at the Boston Public Library\u2019s Leventhal Map Center, Heaven and Earth: The Blue Maps of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/daqing-wannian-yitong-dili-quantu-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1817986,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/08\/upcoming-leventhal-exhibition-will-explore-boston-transit-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":2},"title":"Upcoming Leventhal Exhibition Will Explore Boston Transit Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"17 August 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"An upcoming exhibition at the Boston Public Library\u2019s Leventhal Map Center, Getting Around Town: Four Centuries of Mapping Boston in Transit, \u201cbrings together an extraordinary collection of maps, plans, ephemera, and other materials to investigate how Bostonians have moved around the city in the past, present, and future.\u201d Opens September\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Transit&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Transit","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/transit\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1811478,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/01\/new-boston-focused-map-exhibitions-at-the-leventhal-center\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":3},"title":"New Boston-Focused Map Exhibitions at the Leventhal Center","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"13 January 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"Opening today at the Boston Public Library\u2019s Leventhal Map Center, Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases is an exhibition that explores street-level changes to Boston in the period between the Civil War and World War II. Media release. Building Blocks: Boston Stories from Urban Atlases features rare materials from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atlas of the city of Boston, Roxbury: plate 14 (1931)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/atlas-boston-plate14-roxbury-1024x717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/atlas-boston-plate14-roxbury-1024x717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/atlas-boston-plate14-roxbury-1024x717.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/atlas-boston-plate14-roxbury-1024x717.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787294,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/05\/new-leventhal-exhibition-america-transformed\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":4},"title":"New Leventhal Exhibition: America Transformed","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 May 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"The Leventhal Map Center's latest exhibition,\u00a0America Transformed: Mapping the 19th Century, opened last Saturday and runs until 10 November 2019. During the 19th century, the United States expanded dramatically westward. Immigrant settlers rapidly spread across the continent and transformed it, often through violent or deceptive means, from ancestral Native lands\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antique Maps&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1807006,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/04\/new-leventhal-exhibition-more-or-less-in-common\/","url_meta":{"origin":1788902,"position":5},"title":"New Leventhal Exhibition: More or Less in Common","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 April 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"More or Less in Common: Environment and Justice in the Human Landscape is the latest exhibition at the Boston Public Library\u2019s Leventhal Map and Education Center. In More or Less in Common: Environment and Justice in the Human Landscape, we take a look at how questions of social justice and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Human Geography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Human Geography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/human-geography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Image from the More or Less in Common exhibition","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/leventhal-more-or-less-boston-1024x464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/leventhal-more-or-less-boston-1024x464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/leventhal-more-or-less-boston-1024x464.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/leventhal-more-or-less-boston-1024x464.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1788902"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1788950,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1788902\/revisions\/1788950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1788902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1788902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1788902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}