On Exactitude in Science – J.L. Borges

… In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirety of a City, and the map of the Empire, the entirety of a Province. In time, those Unconscionable Maps no longer satisfied, and the Cartographers Guilds struck a Map of the Empire whose size was that of the Empire, and which coincided point for point with it. The following Generations, who were not so fond of the Study of Cartography as their Forebears had been, saw that that vast Map was Useless, and not without some Pitilessness was it, that they delivered it up to the Inclemencies of Sun and Winters. In the Deserts of the West, still today, there are Tattered Ruins of that Map, inhabited by Animals and Beggars; in all the Land there is no other Relic of the Disciplines of Geography.

Suárez Miranda,

Viajes de varones prudentes, Libro IV, Cap. XLV, Lérida, 1658

Borges, J. L. 1998. On exactitude in science. P. 325,

In, Jorge Luis Borges, Collected

Fictions

(Trans. Hurley, H.) Penguin Books.

Chap Hop

Charting History

Restoring Dignity to Pennsylvania Station

I could not agree with this piece more. It’s a pleasure to navigate the halls of Grand Central and a misery to traverse the latest iteration of Penn Station. Bring back the glory of the McKim, Mead & White building.

An Ode to the Grid

In the old photograph, a lonely farmhouse sits on a rocky hill, shaded by tall trees. The scene looks like rural Maine. On the modern street, apartment buildings tower above trucks and cars passing a busy corner where an AMC Loews multiplex faces an overpriced hamburger joint and a Coach store. In the old photograph, a lonely farmhouse sits on a rocky hill, shaded by tall trees. The scene looks like rural Maine. On the modern street, apartment buildings tower above trucks and cars passing a busy corner where an AMC Loews multiplex faces an overpriced hamburger joint and a Coach store.

Museum of the City of New York
The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011
Dec 6 through Apr 15.

Celebrating 100 Years at the New York Public Library

An exhibit that ranges from a Gutenberg Bible to Kerouac’s Zig-Zags.

One hundred years ago, The New York Public Library opened its landmark building, now known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, dedicated to preserving its varied collections and making them accessible to the public. Over time, the Library has radically expanded its holdings, but its founding goals are as central today as they were in 1911. Library curators past and present have been guided by the philosophy that all knowledge is worth preserving. This major exhibition of more than 250 thought-provoking items from NYPL’s vast collections celebrates how the Library has encouraged millions of individuals to gain access to a universe of information during the past 100 years. The first Gutenberg Bible acquired in the Americas is included, as are dance cards, dime novels, and John Coltrane’s handwritten score of Lover Man. Organized into four thematic sections—Observation, Contemplation, Society, and Creativity—the exhibition highlights the collections’ scope and their value as symbols of our collective memory. Indeed, Celebrating 100 Years also documents changes in the way information has been recorded and shared over time, beginning with samples from the Library’s collection of Sumerian cuneiform tablets (ca. 2300 BCE) and culminating in selections from the Library’s 740,000-item Digital Gallery

Asher Roth & Chuck Inglish – In the Kitchen

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola’s Stella Artois Commercial

6th Avenue El @ Byrant Park – 1878

Bryant Park. Note that reservoir in lieu of the NYPL.

Guy Fawkes

The anarchist’s mask of choice.