This Artist Turns Recycled Maps Into Mountains


Beijing-based multimedia artist Ji Zhou builds vast mountain ranges, towering skyscrapers, and the craggy coastlines of floating islands—all out of recycled books and maps. He calls these imaginary worlds, which conceptually play with the relationship between civilization and nature, “landscapes of possibility.”
The artist builds the 3D scenes by hand, then photographs and digitally edits them so they seem to emerge naturally from their surroundings. His series of photos, collectively entitled “Civilized Landscape,” is currently being shown at the Klein Sun Gallery in New York City.
According to the gallery, Ji Zhou’s photos ask the question, “What is civilization—a constructed illusion created by man or an inevitable product of evolution? What is the truly ‘civilized landscape'?” Check out his breathtaking creations below:
[h/t: Huffington Post]
All photos courtesy of Klein Sun Gallery, (c) Ji Zhou.