Bringing their residency to a close, artist/architect duo MAP Office presents their installation ‘Atlas of Asia Art Archive’, an atlas of real and imaginary places found in the Archive.
 
A unique visual cartography in which combinations of text and image dissolve the conventional borders of Asia, the Atlas is a new categorisation of the region, charting artists and the territories they invent, use, appropriate, and transform much like Jorge Luis Borges’ reference to the ancient Chinese encyclopædia 'Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge.' In continuity with their current practice, MAP Office is attracted by territorial concerns, walking the line between art and architecture, aesthetics and activism, image and text.
 
The installation presents the territories of 111 artists configured into 12 possible categories. In this list of 12 categories, geography goes beyond the conventional means of defining territories. Usually constrained by national interests and geographic borders, these categories propose another taxonomy in which territories are defined by the nature of their creations and ambitions.
 
The installation will be on view at Asia Art Archive from 31 August to 20 October 2012, with an opening event on Friday 30 August at 6:30pm.
 
‘Performing the Archipelago’, held on 12 & 13 October 2012 at Spring Workshop, invites a group of artists to activate the territories through readings, conversation, and performance. More details will be announced shortly.