Sculptor Simeon Nelson joined the Royal Geographical Society with IBG as its first-ever artist in residence for a project entitled 'Cryptosphere'.

His fifteen month residency, curated by the Parabola Trust, investigated the Society's unique map collection which dates back to the 15th Century.

His research focused on maps that consider mythical places as physical locations, as well as the evolution of Western cartography and the shifting philosophical and global perspectives of the past 1,000 years.

He describes the ‘Cryptosphere’ as, ‘the sum of all withheld and hidden information in a given system’.

His responses to complex mapping methodologies were seen through the creation of a new body of work that was exhibited at the Society from 4 April - 9 May 2008.
 
Nelson created a new body of work, locating the mythological and ornamental within the physical and temporal, responding to his research on maps that consider mythical places as physical locations, as well as the evolution of Western cartography and the shifting perspectives of the past 1,000 years.

  View a gallery of the exhibition or watch a video of its installation

  A publication, produced by Parabola, accompanied the residency with texts from Dr Denis Alexander, Professor Denis Cosgrove, Dr Alessandro Scafi, Rebecca Geldard. The book can be purchased at the Society, or online here.

  The Residency involved the participation of Year 5 pupils at Gayhurst Community School, Hackney, East London. Workshops encouraged pupils to consider issues of the built environment, the natural world and diaspora communities.