Stephen Cartwright

Latitude and Longitude Project

1996-1997, 1999-ongoing

The Latitude and Longitude Project forms the core of Cartwright's studio practice, it documents Cartwright's position on the surface of the earth for every hour of the day. The record now contains more than 160,000 entries. Recordings are made manually on the hour using a handheld GPS or GPS phone app and then entered into a logbook. The logbook is periodically entered into a spreadsheet for processing. Once in digital form, the information is translated into 3D virtual maps that can depict any combination of latitude, longitude, elevation, and time. The information can also be used for sculptural map visualizations and many other projects including:

Life Location Project

Floating Map USA

XY Plotter

Location Tracking Animations

Cartwright also maintains several other self-tracking projects that are used throughout his work.

Philadelphia PA

Richmond VA

Champaign/Urbana, IL

Bay Area, CA

North America

Northeast United States

North America (Time axis rotation)

Philadelphia PA (Time axis rotation)

Elevation view 30N to 52N looking west

Logbook

Latitude, Longitude, Distance from home, Number of unique locations (1999-2015)
2016 | Acrylic, resin | 32x8x1.5in

Life Location Project

Life Location is an on-going project mapping locations in time and space of Cartwright and his family since each person’s birth. The lines start with the birth of Cartwright's father in 1937. This project manifests itself in 3D virtual maps, animations, and sculptures.

Life Location

Large format sculptures from the Life Location Project detailing the trajectories of peoples lives over time.

Life Location Siblings (1959-2018)

2018 | Acrylic, resin | 32x5.5x3.25in

Follows the lives of six siblings over time.

Life Location Ancestors (1465-2018)

2019 | Acrylic, resin | 27.5x15x7.5in

In this iteration of the Life Location Project, I have rendered the relative locations of 130 direct ancestors through time.

Life Location (MNM 1974-2020)

2020 | Acrylic, resin | 18x12x4.5in. | [private collection]

This piece follows the life and career of a single person year by year. Movement is divided into personal and professional travel.

Life Location (JEB 1973-2023)

2023 | Acrylic, resin | 10.75x9.5x4.5in. | [private collection]

This piece follows the movement of a single person year by year.

Floating Maps

Pieces in the Floating Map series are extensions of the Latitude and Longitude Project, they visualize personal location data from around the world.

Floating Map (USA, 1999-2015)

2016 | Acrylic, resin | 21x16x7.5in

Floating Map (Stroud, UK, 2000-2015

2016 | Acrylic, resin | 14x12x12in.

Cosmic Bodies

Cosmic Bodies investigates the invisible forces that hold the universe together and connect everything within it. For this series, Stephen Cartwright draws on astronomical databases to plot the orbits, trajectories, and apparent motions of cosmic objects, including comets, asteroids, and stars. In a complex process, Cartwright integrates the data into drawings and uses digital and traditional fabrication methods to create the work. Although there are potentially thousands of objects covering vast distances in the databases and in these works, they represent only a tiny fraction of the material in the universe. Likewise, each person is just a tiny fraction of all that is out there but is connected to everything else.

Asteroids 001 (63 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, Observed Dec. 2022)
2023 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum, lights | 23x23x3in

Asteroids 002 (57 Near Earth Asteroids, Observed Mar. 1, 2023)
2023 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum, lights | 23x23x3in

Asteroids 003 (45 Near Earth Asteroids, Observed Jan. 17-19, 2023)
2023 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum, lights | 23x23x3in

Stars 001 (207 nearest stars in the Northern Hemisphere)
2023 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum, lights | 23x23x3in | [private collection]

Stars 002 (198 nearest stars in the Southern Hemisphere)

2023 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum, lights | 23x23x3in

Asteroids 004 (99 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, Observed by the Minor Planet Center, Jan. 1-14, 2024)
2024 | Acrylic mirror, aluminum | 32x32x2.5in [public collection]

Small Solar System Bodies 001 (major asteroids and comets)

2023 | Acrylic, mirror, wood | 16x16x4in

Small Solar System Bodies 002 (major asteroids and comets)

2023 | Acrylic, mirror, wood | 16x16x4in

Future Stars

Future Stars 001 (Proper motion of stars in the region of Gemini projected 250,000 years into the future)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 24x24x2.5in

Future Stars 002 (Proper motion of stars in the region of Aquarius projected 250,000 years into the future)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 24x24x2.5in

Future Stars 003 (Proper motion of stars in the region of Virgo projected 250,000 years into the future)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 24x24x2.5in

Future Stars 004 (Proper motion of stars in the region of Sagittarius projected 250,000 years into the future)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 24x24x.5in

Star Arcs

Star Arcs 002 (Apparent motion of stars in the region of Capricorn; two hour plot pulled from the 500 brightest stars.)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 24x24x.5in

Star Arcs 001 (Apparent motion of stars in the region of Cygnus; three hour plot pulled from the 400 brightest stars.)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 18x18x.5in

Star Arcs 003 (Apparent motion of stars in the region of Ursa Major; three hour plot pulled from the 600 brightest stars.)

2024 | Acrylic and resin | 19x24x.5in

Migration

Migration Trends (by decade 1980-2010)

2019 | Acrylic, resin | 15.5x7.25x3.5in

Migration Country to Country (Top 25 largest changes 1990-2020)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 16 x 12 x 3 in.

The top 25 largest changes in numbers of migrants from one country residing in another country for three ten year periods 1990-2000, 2000-2010, 2010-2020

Missing Migrants (US Mexico Border 2014-2017)
2018 | Acrylic, resin | 2x6x2in

Missing Migrants (Southern Europe and North Africa 2014-2017)
2018 | Acrylic, resin | 10x24x2in

Missing Migrants (Spain/Morocco 2018)
2020 | Acrylic, resin | 11.5x11.5x2.5in.
Data from the Missing Migrants Project by the International Organization for Migration. This piece centers on a small section of the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Morocco.

Missing Migrants (US/Mexico 2014-2019)

2020 | Acrylic, resin | 6x6x3in.

Data from the Missing Migrants Project by the International Organization for Migration. This piece centers on a small section of the US/Mexico border.

Missing Migrants - Animated maps created with data from the Missing Migrants Project by the International Organization for Migration.

Refugee Movement - Mapping the movement of refugees and asylum seekers over time with data from the UN High Commission on Refugees from 2003-2019. The visualization tracks approximately 1.36M people as they make their way from 10 different origin countries (red), to 24 countries where the applied and waited for asylum (purple), and finally on to the country of their resettlement (cyan). Line weights are based on the number people on each route. An additional 165,000 people are listed in the database with no specific origin or intermediate location. https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/resettlement-data.html

Origins and Destinations of International Migrants 2020

This video tracks a segment of the international migrant stock as of 2020. The data lists the number of people currently residing in a destination country each specific origin country. Shown here are the origins and destinations of about 12 million people over 500 random country combinations. The full dataset documents 268 million people living outside their country of origin. Origins are in red, destinations are in purple, and the thickness of the line is relative to the number of people for that pair of countries.

https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock

Population & Demographics

Untitled (Life expectancy and caloric intake for 142 countries, 2020) 2023 | Acrylic, resin | 116x18x2.5in. | [corporate collection]

Population Pyramid (United Kingdom, India, Sierra Leone, 2020)
2020 | Acrylic, resin | 11.5x11.5x5.5in. | [private collection]

This Processing sketch uses UN population data from 2019 to animate random pairs of population demographics from countries and territories. Each pair animates circles based on age groups within the country’s population (0-4, 5-9, 10-14 years of age, and so on). The larger the circle the higher the percent of the population is in that age group. The animation starts with the youngest group and proceeds up to the top age group (100+).

Population Pyramid (Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, 2020)

2020 | Acrylic, resin | 6x6x2.5in.

Floating Information - Weather

Pieces in the Floating Information series render various data sets into three-dimensional sculptures.

Floating Information (Los Angeles Weather 2000-2019)
2020 | Acrylic, resin | 8.5 x 7.75 x 4.25 in | [private collection]

This piece tracks the deviation from the monthly average temperature and precipitation over 20 years.

Floating Information (Los Angeles Weather 2015-2019)
2020 | Acrylic, resin | 24 x 5.75 x 2.375 in

This piece samples every fifth day for five years to track the temperature deviation from average in Los Angeles.

Floating Information (Precipitation 2005-2016)
2018 | Acrylic, resin | 17.5 x 10.5 x 10.5 in

Floating Information (Temperature 2020: Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago)
2021 | Acrylic, resin | 17.5 x 17.5 x 2.5 in

This piece shows a sampling of temperature data from several cities covering the year 2020.

Floating Information (Prevailing wind 2017-20: San Francisco and Miami)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 14 x 21 x 2.5 in | [private collection]

This piece shows a sampling of of the prevailing wind direction and speed data from two cities covering 2017-20.

Floating Information (Prevailing wind 2017-20: Chicago)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 22 x 14.25 x 2.5 in

A sampling of of the prevailing wind direction and speed data from Chicago covering 2017-20.

Self Tracking - Physical Activity

Mesh (Human Powered Outdoor Activity 2015)

2018 | Acrylic, hardware | 24x107x75in.

Comparative Meshes (Human powered outdoor activity / Precipitation 2013)

2014 | Acrylic, hardware | 54x80x10in.

Mesh 1 (Bicycling mileage 1997-2009)

2010 | Acrylic, hardware | 78x78x20 in.

Mesh 2 (Running mileage 2002-2009)

2010 | Acrylic, hardware | 82x48x15in.

Human Powered Outdoor Activity (2014-2015)
2016 | Acrylic, resin | 12x12x6.5in

Self Tracking - Other Activities

A series of landscape sculptures based on data recorded over the course of several years.

Driving Mileage (2011-2014)
2015 | Acrylic, resin | 12x5.5x5.5in

Spending (2006-2015)
2016 | Acrylic, resin | 12x12x5.5in

Self Tracking - Comparative Sets

A series of landscape sculptures based on data recorded over the course of several years.

Stephen Cartwright Human Drive 10-11 2.jpg

Stephen Cartwright Human Drive 10-11 3.jpg

Human powered outdoor activity and driving mileage (2010-2011)
2016 | Acrylic, resin | 16x10x1.75in

Human powered outdoor activity and Driving mileage (2014-2015)

2016 | Acrylic, resin | 32x16x2in. | [private collection]

Stephen Cartwright Human Temperature 4.jpg

Human powered outdoor activity and Temperature (2014-2015)

2016 | Acrylic, resin | 12.5x22x2in.

Stephen Cartwright Human Temperature 5.jpg

Human powered outdoor activity and Temperature (2013-2014)

2015 | Acrylic, resin | 8x11.5x1.25in.

Stephen Cartwright Human Temperature 11-14 2.jpg

Human powered outdoor activity and Temperature (2011-2014)

2016 | Acrylic, resin | 32x8x1.5in.

Precipitation and human powered outdoor activity (2010-2014)
2015 | Acrylic, resin | 11x8x1.5in each

Climate

Works derived from climate data

El Nino - Southern Oscillation (Temperature fluctuations 2000-2019)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 23.75 x 10.625 x 2 in. [corporate collection]

El Nino - Southern Oscillation (Temperature fluctuations 1970-2020)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 29 x 9 x 2.5 in. [corporate collection]

Weather

Ground Temperature (Tiburon CA)

2022 | Acrylic, resin | 12x17x5.5in | [private collection]

Precipitation (2012-2015)
2017 | Acrylic, resin | 9x12x3.5in

Geology

Geomagnetic Pole Reversals (9 million years)
2020 | Acrylic, resin | 21.25x6x1.75in

Meditation

Meditation Time (Jan-Aug 2018)
2018 | Acrylic, resin | 6x6x6in | [private collection]

Email, Time at work, Time meditating (2016)
2018 | Acrylic, resin | 10.5x5.5x5.5in. | [private collection]

Meditation (2016)
2017 | Acrylic, resin | 12x12x5in

Meditation (2019)

2021 | Acrylic, resin | 12.5x6x6in

Frequency

2010 | Acrylic, MDF, lights

Philadelphia, PA (1996-1997, 1999-2005) 48x48x114in. (purple)

Richmond, VA (2005-2008) 24x24x86in. (orange)

Urbana, IL (2008-2010) 24x24x102in.

Pieces in the “Frequency” series depict Cartwright's relative frequency in certain areas of cities he has lived. Data from the Latitude and Longitude Project is consolidated into 10 second areas, each recorded instance in an area adds to the height of the column on a logarithmic scale.