Legend
globe, gouache
15 x 12 x 12 in.
1992
Black gouache obliterates all the names of lands and seas and all other text printed on a schoolroom globe, except for a single word: the eponymous “Legend.” In effect of this creative act, a black veil shrouds the sphere—the landmasses, most heavily so. All hierarchies and other distinctions among nations struggling to perpetuate political structures are eliminated. Because conquest is accompanied by naming, Legend suggests the end of regime change or colonization—perhaps even a utopian vision of one world. On the other hand, the erasure of these names one by one could also imply the loss or malleability of these geographical locations from acts of invasion, erosion, globalization, pollution, or war.