In the Standard series, Sem Lala produces silkscreen prints derived from a found image of the emblematic group of works Sunrise by Roy Lichtenstein. This distortion of the source image emphasizes a point of tension that is overdetermined by competing meanings.

The word “standard” derives etymologically from the military flag—the banner that serves as the rallying point—, and suggests that the works function as stand-ins through which the antagonism between east and west—post-war America and Soviet-style imagery–is played out.

Rather than signifying a determined position, the Standard series instead brackets the mutual antagonism between competing ideologies and underlines how one might be dependent on the other, highlighting the ideological complexity of the present world.