Set of 11 Maps (1996-99)
Set of 11 Maps, consisting of eleven pairs of pants. Appearing as if containing an actual body, each pair of stylistically dissimilar trousers takes on a particular pose – as placeholders for different personalities. Male voices can be heard from loudspeakers that are buried in the pants; the voices claim possession or ownership: e.g., “This is my house”, “This is my wife,” “This is my country,” “This is my occupation,” “This is my action.” The voices arbitrarily occupy the trouser forms, inviting us to reflect on how identity is accomplished through language – identity as defined by the utterance of a particular syntactical form: the possessive. The word “maps” in the title refers literally to the acquisition and demarcation of land; but, as well, addresses the assimilation and appropriation of some one or some place as one’s own.
text: Berit Fischer