Approximately 199, STARTED 2012
The projects Approximately 199 began with yearly sketchbooks dedicating one page to each country in the world, scaling its shape accordingly and encompassing all its territories: overseas, claimed, and disputed. The number 199 corresponds to the number of existing passports. Countries are ordered from least to most populated, following the unit of measurement that is arguably most unmeasurable: human lives. The 200-day performance follows this format, wearing a different shirt each day for each country, and adding a 200th day wearing a blank shirt to represent the 12 million stateless people on Earth. The print installation is produced by scanning and printing the pages of the original sketchbooks, allowing for easier comparison and juxtaposition of countries’ shapes and relationships. This ongoing project continuously questions the ownership of Earth and the concept of nations. Their attempt to give equal importance to every place in the world hopes to both reveal our innate geographical bias and broaden our sense of identity.
Approximately 199, Mar. 20, 2017 - Oct. 5, 2017
Performance with screen-printed shirts, 200 days
One shirt per country for 200 days.
Approximately 199, started 2012
Ink on hand-printed, hand-made and hand-bound sketchbooks
7 x 5 x 1" / 17,8 x 12,7 x 2,5 cm each
Yearly sketchbooks with one page per country in the world.
Approximately 199, started 2012
200 framed pigment prints mounted on museum board
7 x 5" / 18 x 13 cm each, overall dimensions variable
Print variations with one framed print per country in the world.
Approximately 199, started 2012
Installation views and performance photo-documentation
