Maps are great—not the Google kind, but the paper ones your irate parents could never fold properly during car trips. Now, the Brooklyn Historical Society and BRIC House have a whole rad exhibit, Mapping Brooklyn, dedicated to cool old maps of Brooklyn—except the one which tracks rents in the 1940s—30 bucks a month for a place in Williamsburg, huh? GTFO.
The exhibit features "fire insurance maps, transportation maps, demographic maps and nautical charts, among others." Also, a "colorful pictorial road map to the 1939 New York World’s Fair, a commercial edition of a Red Scare-era map depicting enclaves of suspected radical activity, and a detailed map of one of Brooklyn’s earliest botanic gardens." THERE IS A MAP FOR EVERYTHING.
As Elizabeth Ferrer, Vice President of Contemporary Art at BRIC, puts it: “Modern and contemporary artists have long turned to maps for inspiration. In practical terms, maps provide information on navigating from point a to point b, but in metaphorical terms, they become the springboard for thinking about history, personal exploration, social and political issues, and our place in the world."
Equally important, though, is that they look cool. Check them out at BRIC Arts at 647 Fulton Street on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and all other days (except Monday) from from 10 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. This location will be open until May 3.
The Brooklyn Historical Society exhibit is located at 128 Pierrepont Street, and is open Wednesday to Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. It runs at this location until September 6.
