Map

"Map developed out of a series of floor works I began making in 1995 based on the rug, mat, or carpet as a form. In these works I sought to destabilize the surface of the ground by rendering it simultaneously seductive and treacherous. With Map, I expanded this idea of "shaky ground" to include the entire earth. The piece consists of a large expanse of trans- parent marbles spread across the floor in the shape of a map of the world. The surface of the map is entirely level, as if an earthquake had equalized every landmass. The political borders are intentionally ignored, and only the continents are delineated. Yet, they exist in a state of disintegration as the marbles roll around and get knocked out of place whenever people walk across the space. The surface of this map is physically unstable and threatening to the people around it, but those same people also constantly threaten the piece's existence. Whereas in the past we may have imagined the world as stable, solid ground, we now acknowledge the delicate fabric of life in an uncertain and shifting world." - Mona Hatoum