The Sealand chapter of Uncorporate Identity examines the Principality of Sealand as a case study in how statehood and identity can be constituted through external infrastructures rather than political or territorial fact.

Situated on a disused sea fort, Sealand lacks formal recognition, governance, and territorial legitimacy, yet it presents itself as a sovereign state through flags, passports, stamps, and online narratives. By analyzing how Sealand’s identity is mediated by interfaces and collective imagination, Metahaven reveals the mechanics of recognition and the performative nature of sovereignty in a networked era.

I therefore attempt to frame Sealand through the language of metadata rather than narrative. Using a retro OS interface, each conceptual element in the reading is treated as a discrete file, mirroring how Sealand’s identity exists through external infrastructures like search results and documentation. The interface becomes the ‘outside’ that gives form to an otherwise empty state.

References:

Velden, D. van der and Kruk, V. (2009) Uncorporate Identity. Baden: Lars Müller Publishers; Springer (distributor), pp. 19–49.