Lordy Rodriguez: New States

Lordy Rodriguez was born in the Philippines, raised in Louisiana and Texas, and currently lives in Los Angeles. For several years he has been working on a series of ink drawings that reinterpret the United States of America as delineated by geographic, civic and state boundaries. These handmade maps, drawn in fine Technicolor detail, represent his take on the ideal reconfiguration of our country.

Using the precise language of mapmaking, which is defined by borders, limits, and “reality,” Rodriguez creates places that defy existing boundaries and rules. Washington State, for instance, is situated on the East rather than West Coast and is surrounded by Oklahoma, Maine, and Hollywood, which is itself a state. The playful aspects of these works, however, belie a deeper sense of displacement. Being of Chinese, Filipino, Spanish, and French descent, and having moved throughout his life, Rodriguez has never been able to claim any homeland as truly his own. Larger issues of 21st century navigation — of different cultures, the information superhighway, the latest technology or software program– are brought to bear in the artist’s invented worlds.

Eventually, Rodriguez intends to remap the entire United States, adding 5 new states of his own creation (Territory State, which includes parts of the Philippines, Samoa, and Puerto Rico; Disney World; Hollywood; The Internet; and Monopoly), to bring the total to 55, the national speed limit at the start of the project. An apt metaphor for our car-centered culture, where urban planning revolves around the automobile, and navigation as we know it wouldn’t exist without the highway.