The World According to SealandThe denial of one’s existence can result in an identity. A substantial part of the Principality of Sealand’s self-definition is based on what Sealand is not. Sealand is not a recognized nation. Sealand-based business models are often based on either data secrecy (internet hosting) or tax evasion (gambling). The resulting identity strategy could be based on disappearance and omnipresence at the same time. A non-identity doesn’t imply the absence of identity; for instance a non-place (see Marc Augé) also doesn’t imply that there is no physical space. What is aimed at is a different understanding of how identity is manifested. Could Sealand disappear at sea?

For the Meta Haven: Sealand Identity Project, achitecture firm Next Architects researched new possibilities for mapping. The representation of Sealand itself and its position in relation to the rest of the world is without a doubt indispensable to a country that wishes to attain a position within the world order. However, there is a slight problem: Sealand is so small that, within current methods of cartography based on similar scales of representation, the tiny nation simply won’t be visible.