First Kiss Map

Collecting data, thinking about places, drawing maps. Submit a kiss to the collection!

The short version is: I am collecting geographic data of first kiss locations and stories in the twin cities to publish in a book and print map, and if you’d like to submit, please do it here.

The long version is: for years I’ve been interested in the field of psychogeography, which is all about our personal relationships to physical (mostly urban) spaces. The route you took to school growing up, the streets that give us nostalgia, the spaces where the many past versions of us exist in the same geographies. In collecting stories and geographic data for this map, I am changing my relationship to the cities I live in through the stories of others. Now when I cross 26th and Lyndale, I think of the all the kisses between strangers that happened there (more than most intersections according to my data so far!) and wonder what this earring looked like.

I’m importing the data I collect into a map, but I am feeling very strongly that the end result of this project first needs to be a physical object, a printed map and accompanying book. Because I am no one but myself, I decided that I didn’t like any of the digital base maps available to me, and so I am hand drawing my map which I will later populate with the submitted kisses. Since this incredibly tedious and arguably unnecessary step is taking me so long, I am trying to use the extra time to address some of the obvious biases in my data collection.

Right now I have collected 300 kiss data points, mostly through sharing the ask on instagram. Most of the people I know through my time living in these geographies are based in a small part of St. Paul and pockets of South Minneapolis. My kiss clusters reflect this, and to attempt to remedy this slightly I’ve been hanging up flyers in other parts of town inviting new people into this project. I have decided that I, the mapmaker, am not allowed to solicit geographically interesting first kisses just to fill in spaces on my map, but if you the participant use the existence of this project to solicit a first kiss, who am I to stop you? (And go for the industrial corridors, those ones seem kiss-lacking!)

I have no illusions that I will make anything other than a completely biased map, but in the end, all maps are incredibly biased, so I figure I’m in ok company.

I’m hoping to finish this project in the late fall or winter and will send updates here, but I hope this has inspired you to tell me a story of a memorable first kiss, particularly one with an interesting location, or just get excited to explore the map when it’s ready to fully engage with.

Next time I get a spark of writing energy maybe I’ll ponder how the experiences we have shape the places themselves in addition to to the places shaping our experiences.

Thanks for trusting me with your stories, anonymous or not,

Dio