Double page feature for the ‘Map Commission’ in Map Magazine, Issue 4, Winter 2005. See more on the Map website.
“With four felt-tip pens bought in a Chinese supermarket in Seattle, Tommy Perman illustrates the story of his journey abroad and his local route in Edinburgh. His tale explores the world domination of the motorcar.
This is a map of two journeys I have made. The first came out of the blue. In 2002, just after I graduated from art school, I was told that I had won a travel award from British Airways for the work in my degree show. The award gave me the overwhelming option to fly to almost any destination in the world. After much pondering I decided to fly to Vancouver. I arrived in March 2003 to the backdrop of the SARs outbreak and the brink of the Iraq war.
‘Beetle, Vancouver’ 2003
I had a weird and wonderful time exploring Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Seattle. I attended a Saint Patrick’s Day ceilidh at Vancouver’s Croatian Cultural Centre where I met more ‘Scots’ than I know in Scotland. I met distant relatives on Vancouver Island with a hobby farm and a lamb wearing a nappy. I listened to the many different perspectives of the Americans, Canadians and foreign travellers I met. I took a ferry from Victoria to Seattle and encountered first the tough US immigration process and then the warm hospitality of two new friends who took me in and introduced me to Seattle.
In a Chinese supermarket in Seattle I bought four felt-tip pens, the kind that have a large chiselled nib on one side a fine nib on the other. When I returned to Scotland I used these pens to start to tell the story of my journey.
The second journey I am showing here could not be any closer to home. It depicts the route between my flat and my friend’s shop in the Grassmarket, a journey I have made hundreds of times. The scenes I chose, illustrate how the car has dominated and shaped our environment. Even in a small, relatively pedestrian friendly city such as Edinburgh, the car has well and truly taken control.
‘New Pedestrain Bridge, St James Centre’ 2005
I cannot drive but luckily in Edinburgh it is possible to get almost everywhere on foot or by bus. However, in the rest of Scotland and in most of Canada and the US owning a car is crucial to everyday life. One of the aims of my drawings is to highlight our increasing dependence on the motorcar and the serious impact it is having on the global environment.”
See also America Drawings and Running Amok / Ambling Along