Matthew LeMay: Reconsidering Database Form

In this essay, I argue against Lev Manovich's theorization of the database, and resultant critiques of mapping art. Suggesting that database form necessarily involves intricate interrelations of data in a rigid, predetermined structure, I propose that the general divide between content and form proposed by Manovich is at least an oversimplification, and at most erroneous. I take issue with Manovich's designation of mapping art as "anti-sublime," suggesting that it is instead the inputting of data into a database that can be considered "anti-sublime" in Manovich's terms.