Air Routes of the World (Night)
Print
2001 (printed)
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.
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 | |
Title | Air 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 |
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Gallery label |
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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 created | June 6, 2003 |
Record URL |
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