Constructing a continent: the Antarctic experience in context.

• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20211734

By employing information design within the Antarctic context, we can encourage transdisciplinary dialogue about and access to the scientific, cultural, and political concepts that form our collective image, or construction, of a continent. This work explores the role of visualization in stimulating engagement with the most socially and geographically isolated continent on Earth. The often contradictory notions of popular imagination and the daily realities of life in Antarctica cultivate the cultural incognizance that persists today-one where published communications from the continent are strongly weighted toward scientific findings. I argue for a more pragmatic approach to polar knowledge dissemination-one that sees the value of contextualizing the Antarctic experience through the lens of human engagement. The urgency for this type of design is particularly acute for Antarctica, where the value of information design can be applied to rising socio-environmental concerns such as climate change and geopolitical conflict.