World Stage uses digital representations of global species of butterflies to animate the powerful iconography of worldwide flags. In a year when national, political and social identity has been brought to the forefront of our minds, we are ever more aware of the rich symbolism of the flag - what it means to display it and what it means to disrupt it.
'The World Stage artworks was a particularly poignant work for me to create. As much as it is a real-time, interactive artwork, it is also an artwork that I developed as a real-time response to the chaotic and uncertain times of 2020 within the United States.
Within my depiction of the USA flag, I seek to capture the moment of identity and nationhood being challenged. The strong identity of a nation results from the collective fragility of individuals coming together. Through the use of delicate, hand-painted butterflies, I permit degrees of chaos and the reordering of the iconic flag.
Overcoming these disruptions, the butterflies seek to reform back in the flag's original and iconic form. It symbolises an optimism that the natural world can restore itself alongside a nation's identity, and that overall the strength of a nation can endure temporary upset.
In a year when national, political and social identity has been brought to the forefront of our minds, we are ever more aware of the rich symbolism of the flag - what it means to display it and what it means to disrupt it.'
- Dominic Harris
