EXISTENCE DOUBTED
London, 2015
Sandy Island was a territory between Australia and New Caledonia discovered by Captain Cook in the 18th Centruy. Or so it was believed until 2012, when scientists realised such island had never existed.
This cartographic mistake, also reflected in contemporary charts such as Google Maps, highlights the potential of mathematical data to generate fictions, often taken as accurate representations of reality.
Exhibited at the Royal College of Art, Existence Doubted presented different manifestations of the non-existent island, mapping its topography to daily fluctuations of the currency market. Speculative visualisations and mapmaking tools bring Sandy Island back to the map in order to reflect on the fictional nature of our financial system, and the role of data in such fabrications.
This cartographic mistake, also reflected in contemporary charts such as Google Maps, highlights the potential of mathematical data to generate fictions, often taken as accurate representations of reality.
Exhibited at the Royal College of Art, Existence Doubted presented different manifestations of the non-existent island, mapping its topography to daily fluctuations of the currency market. Speculative visualisations and mapmaking tools bring Sandy Island back to the map in order to reflect on the fictional nature of our financial system, and the role of data in such fabrications.
