FAKE IS THE NEW REAL

The United States, mapped by drawing lines between cities with the same name.

Neil Smith's art, as shown on his website, fakeisthenewreal.org, consists largely of abstract maps depicting real places that are created by connecting real data points through bizarre relationships. When one considers that Smith is also an urban planner, this methodology seems like a (il)logical extension of his profession. Smith operates from the quintessential perspective of a planner - in what is literally the "plan view" (aerial) , while manipulating data points such as transit stations, public schools, buildings (by height), cities, etc. The "art" part of it comes from the connections and comparisons he makes. For example, Smith has created maps by such arbitrary spatial relations as connecting cities with the same name with lines (shown above), drawing a line through a plotting of all the New York public schools in numerical order, comparing transit systems at the same scale, drawing lines through buildings in the order of their heights etc. In this way he give us a lens for understanding new (il)logics of familiar landscapes. This is good mental/visual exercise. Check it out.