an ongoing, illustrated map of seoul

5.6.12 - the very beginning of the map. aura energy, water, parks, title.

 

last updated: may 6 2022
filed under: seoul, maps of a city, travel guides

status: first imagined impressions

current layers of the map

  • the aura-energy from imagined impression

  • blue spaces (stream???)

  • green space (parks — only included 4 for now)

  • title (my korean script is not terrible, right? that’s cause i’m sort of chinese. though i forget this daily.)

-

process notes

today i started doing research for a project that i think, one day, will grow into a different kind of travel “guide” project. by “guide” i mostly mean - curated representations of a place in the digital space, with enough detail to evoke the feeling of being there, the energy of the place, and helpful suggestions for navigating that world, in a contained amount of time (life is always a contained amount of time!).

i want to travel without my body leaving my home. traveling is not a linear point A to B. it’s a circular journey - and really, the distinctions between traveling & a life lived in that place - is two sides of non-duality.

on making a guide to a place i’ve never been

i’ve been making maps for a long time. but this is the first time i’m making a map for a place i’ve never been to, and have no concrete plans (as of now) to visit. this is the act of traveling with the imagination. i asked friends of friends for local recommendations on things to do, and see. i have a sense of the tango events in the city, which i’ll include ext. i’ve started a notion doc collecting research about seoul, and reading through all the guides (why is it that travel blogs are so stuffed with advertisements?) of things to do. it occurs to me that i want to create a digital travel experience as an act of experiencing, NOT consumption.

why a map

something about seeing everything on ONE page - which is very satisfying. it is non-linear. non-prescriptive. the mind wants to wander through a map, chooses its own paths, and simulate it in the body as a lived experience. not read blobs of text.

why seoul

i started making this map because a friend was planning to visit. he canceled his plans a few days prior. i had already started doing research.

now this map is for me.

next steps

  • continue the version 1.0 of the map, which will include a cartographical overview & seoul of my VERY foggy, uninformed imagination. layers of:

    • aura & imaginary, abstract depictions

    • green spaces

    • the fortress wall

    • …??? need to do more research.

  • version 2.0 of the map will include

  • major landmarks & points of interest

  • neighborhoods

  • public transit nodes

 
seeing the world, art from my soulKening Zhuillustrated maps, seoul