Hong Hao

Page 95, The Latest Practical World Map

Selected Scripture is a series of silkscreen prints that Hong Hao has been working on since the 1980s. The series includes 37 prints to date, each of which resemble the pages of an ancient cartography book. In this series, the artist reflects on the authoritative influence of ancient books that shape dominant understandings of the world. The artist states that he specifically chose the book format because of the authority the form commands, as the highly controlled production of scientific publications is a signifier of accuracy and truth. In The Latest Practical World Map, scientific and socio-political buzzwords replace the names of major cities, as a means of reflecting cultural globalization. This world map, reinvented by the artist, calls attention to a particular understanding of the global order, and reshapes conventional perspectives of the world. The work invites viewers to question the relationship between knowledge and truth, and its effects on cognition.