Post-punk band Wire have a song called Map Ref. 41 Degrees N, 93 Degrees E. The song is basically about a map. But it is a curious song. It brought to mind many curious ideas of what constitutes beauty as well as what things we normally derive pleasure and meaning from. Though Wire is talking about a map, the lyrics describe it in such precise, eloquent, loving detail. The song is a reminder the elegance and aesthetic qualities inherent in mathematics and simplicity. But it is also another interesting take on representation and symbolism. The map itself is inherently beautiful as an image. But it also represents something beautiful, a pasture in Iowa. Yet this pasture is a completely different image. It looks nothing like the map. How can something so simple and beautiful mean the same thing as something infinitely more complex and beautiful? It brings to mind Plato’s thoughts on art as imitation. Is a map art? Is it meant to be an imitation? Since nothing is truly real and art is an imitation of an imitation, how genuine a representation is a map? This song provokes a lot of interesting layers of conceptual and symbolic aesthetic thinking.
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