MAPPING THE FRACK

(in the Forest of Bowland)

Image: Map of Licenced Areas to Frack, Reversed
Altered copy of official map from the Oil & Gas Authority – A3
(Click on image to enlarge)

This map depicts all of the zones where fracking could take place across the UK.

Indicated on the map as yellow and green coloured squares, these zones with licences for shale gas mining (and fracking) conform to the rectilinear grid and geometric coordinates of the UK’s Ordnance Survey. The boundary line that delineates permission zones adopts a grid to brutally cross the landscape, without recognition of land use or characteristics.

This map is printed backwards to encourage viewers to see the land surface from below, from an underground perspective.

Image: Ordnance Survey Map: The Forest of Bowland 1934
Photocopy – A5
(Click on image to enlarge)

“Whilst investigating the history of the UK’s Ordnance Survey (OS) map system, I looked at how cover images of their touring map series portrayed the UK countryside as a place of recreation. Ordnance Survey Map: The Forest of Bowland 1934 depicts the cover image by artist Ellis Martin for the Forest.” Catherine Harrington

Beneath the Surface is organized into the following themes:
Mapping the Frack
Fracked

Fracking Activity

Residual Contaminants

Protest
Click on any of the above themes to see the artwork.