15 Embarrassing Body Paint Costume Photos You Have to See

ARE YOU REALLY READING THE MAP RIGHT?

This body paint depicting a world map sheds critical light on traditional cartography. The Mercator projection (1569), common in the Western world, massively distorts geographical proportions – countries like Africa appear relatively small, which has long been discussed as imperialistically charged. The alternative Gall-Peters projection (1973) shows continents in more realistic dimensions, yet it loses visual clarity.

The artwork questions not only the technical precision but also the political history of maps. The painted continents on the skin – incomplete, participatory – are an appeal for differentiated seeing: What we call “world” is always an interpretation. And perhaps the most beautiful map is the one that reminds us that the world is more than lines and colors.