Today the Guggenheim Museum opened a new exhibit on the Participatory City, including a video about “collaborative urban mapping” in South Los Angeles. The mapping video was commissioned by the Guggenheim, and features an innovative mix of cameraphones, old-fashioned paper, and food justice tied to LA streets. Collaborators include the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, Community Services Unlimited, and T.R.U.S.T. South LA. Their video is available at RideSouthLA.com.
“Our video reveals how mapping can be deliberately low-tech, partly for reasons of equity, but surprisingly for innovation too,” said Benjamin Stokes, a USC Annenberg researcher and organizer.
“We resist crowdsourcing that treats participants as cheap sensors for map data,” argued the group in a blog post about the video. “Instead, we proclaim that distributing our voices is an act of civic advocacy, a way to build power.”
Food justice is at the heart of the mapping project. “The video and map document the innovative efforts that have emerged from within South LA to counteract the overwhelmingly bleak reality of our food environment,” said Neelam Sharma, Executive Director of Community Services Unlimited, one of the anchor organizations behind the South LA mapping initiative.
The mapping video is 3-minutes in length, and was produced and largely filmed by USC doctoral student Karl Baumann and translated into Spanish by Eileen Forbes of T.R.U.S.T. South LA.
“My hope is that this map will allow us to bring to light some of the many efforts to address food access in South Los Angeles,” says Tafarai Bayne of T.R.U.S.T. South LA.” Both visitors and residents can use the map to find all kinds of local resources, some obvious and some not so. This map helps go beyond what’s not working, to reveal positive stories about South Los Angeles.
About the Video Team: RideSouthLA is a collective that is bringing mobile mapping, bicycling and social justice to South LA. Our mapping is multi-platform, involving mobile phones, paper and our bodies in space. We seek to tell a neighborhood story of assets and opportunities that is bigger than any one organization. For us, mapping is a tool for social change — documenting our community, envisioning our future, and building our collective power. Our team includes many organizations and individuals, including TRUST South LA, Community Services Unlimited, bike clubs like the East Side Riders, and University partners including the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, the Metamorphosis Project, and the USC Laboratory on the Social Frontier. Technology and design partners include VozMob, Vojo.Co, and DesignedByColleen. Countless individuals have joined our mapping process by contributing their own images, stories and strategies for change.
