Small World Maps

"In 1943, Joaquín Torres García drew Nuestro Norte es el Sur, his iconic upside-down map of South America. It proclaimed, visually, what Torres García had written years earlier in his manifesto School of the South—“For us, there must not be a North, except in opposition to our South…This correction was necessary; because of it we now know where we are.” This image of the upside-down map has since been appropriated by cultural commentators across the globe, from Australian Stuart McArthur's Universal Corrective Map to American Larry Wilmore’s backdrop on his television program The Nightly Show. Though the tone varies, the underlying message is the same—to position oneself in opposition to a global norm.
..."
Kerry Bickford
Introduction to: Skyground 2016

image: Susrface Sea Temperature Anomalies - 3x6inches, adhesive tape collage — Susrface Sea Temperature Anomalies - 3x6inches, adhesive tape collage

image: Extraordinary Rendition, 6x10 inches, adhesive tape collage — Extraordinary Rendition, 6x10 inches, adhesive tape collage

image: untitled. 2.5x5inches, adhesive tape collage — untitled. 2.5x5inches, adhesive tape collage

image: Untitled. 8x13inches, adhesive tape collage — Untitled. 8x13inches, adhesive tape collage

image: We Each do our part. 4x4.5inches, paper and wheatpaste on museum board — We Each do our part. 4x4.5inches, paper and wheatpaste on museum board

image: Southern Sources, 2.5x4inches, paper and adhesive tape on mailing label — Southern Sources, 2.5x4inches, paper and adhesive tape on mailing label

image: World Traveler, 1x4.25inches, acrylic on found map — World Traveler, 1x4.25inches, acrylic on found map

The control and presentation of information is a very important part of cartography. Removing location names or re-introducing the forgotten landmass of Antarctica, which is remote and politically neutral, invites the viewer to reconsider her or his perception of the world map. It is a mode of decolonization and recontextualization by erasure and renaming. It is also an invitation to let the imagination create an alternative potential reality.
-A.V. Rankin