Paper short abstract:

I will discuss the possibility of researching entanglements of digital maps through the act of inversion. My research is focused on multiple enactments of maps during Search and Rescue operations in Northern Norway, thus I will mostly dwell on exploring navigation practices using maps and mapping.

Paper long abstract:

Idea for this presentation is based on my recent interaction with a magpie and a lightbulb, where I inadvertently became the bird's tool in crack-opening the bulb. In accordance, I want to discuss possibility of act of inversion (inverting one's gaze into "other-worldings") as methodological strategy when opening up the worlds of digital maps within Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.

My research is an exploration of multiple enactments of maps during SAR operations. My approach derives from posthuman thought, hence methodological perspective is based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) which urges paying attention to more-than-human actors without focusing on intentionality of actions.

I argue that digital maps, especially in SAR operations are not static, rather, they are processual assemblages depending on actors they interact with. It is important to attend to maps as both - actors and networks in their entangled being. Following maps in various "construction sites" - places, where they are enacted through assemblages - means shifting between digital and material landscapes, attending to different spatio-temporalities. It is withing these sites that maps have different roles, where they reveal differences on interactions while also participating in decision making. Inverting one's gaze provides the possibility to follow maps without conscripting networks to one dimension. After all, when participating in the feedback loop, SAR responders, as well as myself, can become tools for maps by carrying trackers. To attend to the messiness of worlding, the (im)possible entanglements is to think through acts of inversion.