Measuring a location in units of time, 2014/15, Benedikt Terwiel, multiple, edition of 200

Measuring a location in units of time –
a photographic east-west survey of Berlin

The four parts of the map Measuring a location in units of time depict a 50-km route across Berlin starting in the East at the federal highway B1 near Neuenhagen and ending at the B5 close to Dallgow-Döberitz in the West. It runs along cartographic points—permanently installed as metal rods on buildings, bridges or on the ground—that are measuring marks of the land survey and form part of a global network. These fixed points provide measuring instruments with bearing references to calculate the geographic coordinates that anchor every map in real physical space.

The camera replaces the measuring tool to produce images of a concrete spatial situation in lieu of numeric coordinates. But as in the measuring/bearing process, the space between the photographed points remains invisible so that the resulting map does not provide the viewer with a geographical overview. On the contrary, he/she is left with only a sequence of locations constrained by limitations of time and space. Beginning at its most eastern point at 6:20 am in the morning to the last point at 7:20 pm in the West these locations map a one-day journey by foot from sunset to sundown.

The measuring points in the center of each photograph are punched out on the map. Due to the folding they form a kind of register on the opposite side where every point is provided with its official number and address.