Pan-national Flag (2009), Patricia Reed

Detail (above, below)

Patricia Reed created a composite image out of the linear structures of all the internationally recognized nation states of the world. Printed on industrial grade flag fabric, it is becomes an object – a flag – that seems signifies the empty structures and symbols we create to define territory. Out of these superimposed forms, a dense center emerges. (Flag for an airport? the Internet?) Maybe the comparison is too obvious, but I thought of Edyth Dekyndt’s One Second of Silence (2008) – a video depicting a transparent flag waving in the wind.

One Second of Silence (still from video-projection, 2008), Edith Dekyndt