Dirk Hagner: L.A. Tabulae ad Astra (Exhibition Catalog)

By n ow, we have a r r ive d a t t he far margins of the maps . We are in the “ sea o f m o n ster s.” St un n in g im a g e s of water dr agons and the like—t aken from bo o k s o f t he 15 t h ce n t ur y a n d on — a ppear in extr avagant det ail. They are little econo mi es o f pen a n d in k de pict in g cre atures from our imaginations : s he- devil mermai d s, wa l r u s es wit h wa te r spout s, a nd Nessies of the deep. Such territories are o nl y t a m ed t hroug h t he se in cre dible depictions of wonder, but are cipher s o f the u n kn own . He re , a t t he oute r edges, we are Wh ere th e Wild T h ings Are. Bu t whe re do t he se m a ps le a d us ? Where are the st ar s ? They are the lum i no u s s pheres o f book s. L ike t he spin of the hand on vinyl, this is the s pin of the gr ap hi c im a ge o n pa pe r. Ha g n e r sa mpled from many kinds of books : s ketchbooks , 15 th a n d 16 t h ce n t ur y book s, pa pa l bulls , and books on maps . He also s ampled fro m t he pr in t in g proce ss it se lf : scr ap paper, f ir st pulls, as well as cuts and blotches o n a n d aroun d t he pr in t in g sur faces . These images are remixed by hand i nto t he c o r p ore a l m a n ife st a t ion s o f the printed and pres sed image from our cul tu r al l ex ic o n s , re son a t in g wit h our collective (visual) unconscious. As Master Pr i nter H a gn er r if f s on L .A .