On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Air Routes of the World (Night)

Print
2001 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell work with a variety of media such as sculpture and reliefs and, more recently, prints. In their work they explore the systems of communication that codify our world.

This print, Air Routes of the World (Night), is a part of a diptych. The image in the pair of prints is based on the airline route network across the world. In this print it is seen on a white surface, while in its pair, Air Routes of the World (Day), the surface is black. The airports appear as dots, and the routes are lines between them. The airports create patterns similar to star constellations in the sky. This image offers an alternative map of the world, where air travel defines the important locations. It also makes its subject abstract, because the image of the world is pared down to the airport locations and nothing else. The theme is specific, yet the visual appearance allows interpretation. The pattern somehow communicates a longing for far-away places, either elsewhere in the world or in the sky.

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Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAir Routes of the World (Night) (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screenprint
Brief description
Langlands and Bell; 'Air Routes of the World (Night)', screenprint: Britain, 2001
Physical description
One of a pair of screenprints (white lines on a black background) describing an atlas through the air routes of the world (see E.10-2002)
Dimensions
  • Height: 84cm
  • Width: 143.8cm
  • Framed size height: 90cm
  • Framed size width: 150.5cm
Gallery label
  • Based on the routes between airports, these prints construct alternative maps of a world shaped and defined by air travel. They have the precision and scientific objectivity of diagrams, but evoke ideas of adventure and escape associated with flying. The Night version, with white dots against a black ground, looks like a map of star constellations in the night sky. (11/09/2017)
  • Langlands & Bell work with a variety of media to explore the systems of communication that codify our world. This print diptych is based on the global network of international airline routes. Similar to star constellations in the sky, they offer an alternative map of the world where air travel defines the important locations.(2007)
Credit line
Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund
Subjects depicted
Summary
Ben Langlands and Nikki Bell work with a variety of media such as sculpture and reliefs and, more recently, prints. In their work they explore the systems of communication that codify our world.

This print, Air Routes of the World (Night), is a part of a diptych. The image in the pair of prints is based on the airline route network across the world. In this print it is seen on a white surface, while in its pair, Air Routes of the World (Day), the surface is black. The airports appear as dots, and the routes are lines between them. The airports create patterns similar to star constellations in the sky. This image offers an alternative map of the world, where air travel defines the important locations. It also makes its subject abstract, because the image of the world is pared down to the airport locations and nothing else. The theme is specific, yet the visual appearance allows interpretation. The pattern somehow communicates a longing for far-away places, either elsewhere in the world or in the sky.
Associated object
E.10-2002 (Set)
Collection
Accession number
E.9-2002

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Record createdJune 6, 2003
Record URL
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