Sometimes the Internet can be an overwhelming and disappointing place. You might spend hours online and end up annoyed and tired with nothing to show for it. But other times you stumble upon a gem. And the hours you spend are a joy.
Andrew Pekler is an Uzbekistani electronic musician who built an incredible online map called “Phantom Islands – A Sonic Atlas.” With it you explore islands that were added to maps (mostly during the so-called European Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries) that actually never existed. Yes, islands that ship captains faked and documented for money and glory. They were replete with descriptions of flora and fauna as well as detailed descriptions of the humans who lived on these made up places. A number of those pretend islands stuck on maps for longer than you would think. Pekler, being a musician, added a soundtrack to his atlas. I spent hours moving around his atlas reading descriptions and listening to his music for each phantom island. I loved it. I got lost.
It reminded me of when my middle school friend and I pored over that huge atlas of the world deciding where we would choose as a runaway destination. And of the pirate map my cousin made to find lost treasure (the gold was a bunch of leftover Halloween candy he found in his mom’s freezer). It was really nice to find out that maps, like the ones we talk about on this week’s show “Off the Map,” are still mysterious and wondrous to me.
– Charles