The World is Flat: A Generative Odyssey into the Topography of Truth
The World is Flat: A Generative Odyssey into the Topography of Truth
This animation above is inspired by 'the true size of the countries' (links below).
In an era irrevocably defined by the intricacies of globalization and information, this installation, "The World is Flat," beckons viewers to an immersive journey through relativity.
Post-globalization, we find ourselves in a complex paradox where the notion of 'truth' has become abstract.
The homogenization of information, exacerbates our confirmation biases, clouding objective judgment. We are inclined to validate that which is immediate and relatable, rarely venturing beyond the familiar boundaries of cultural and national, local self-interest.
"In philosophy, we are taught to harbor uncertainties toward seemingly evident truths; propaganda, on the other hand, conditions us to accept as irrefutable what should rationally be subject to doubt."
– Aldous Huxley
This provincialism is starkly illustrated by cartographic projections, notably the overly-used Mercator projection. This popular map, critiqued for its distortions, informs our worldview from an early age, magnifying the influence of geographical and cultural 'centers' at the expense of 'margins.'
Conceived as a 30-second animation coded in JavaScript, the installation employs a multitude of mathematical functions to render an infinitely reconfigurable universe of perspectives. These 3D geometries question the very construct of 'flatness'.
"The World is Flat" asks you to reconsider this 'flat' perspective. Is our view of the world flat because it has been flattened by dominant narratives, or is it flat because that’s how it has been handed down to us through biased channels of information?
References
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/18/africa/real-size-of-africa/index.html
Friedman, Thomas L. "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century." Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Anderson, Benedict. "Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism." Verso, 1983.
Wood, Denis, and John Fels. "The Power of Maps." Guilford Press, 1992.
Latour, Bruno. "We Have Never Been Modern." Harvard University Press, 1993.
Huxley, Aldous. "Brave New World Revisited." Harper & Brothers, 1958.
Foucault, Michel. "The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences." Pantheon, 1970.
Crampton, Jeremy. "The Map as Biography: Thoughts on Ordnance Survey Map, Six-Inch Sheet Devonshire CIV.SE, Newton Abbot and Torquay." University of Georgia, 2010.
Monmonier, Mark. "How to Lie with Maps." University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Bachelard, Gaston. "The Poetics of Space." Beacon Press, 1958.
Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. "A Thousand Plateaus" University of Minnesota Press, 1987.
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