Tag Archives: China

Picturesque Chinese Landscapes are Actually Disguised Photos of Landfills

Picturesque Chinese Landscapes are Actually Disguised Photos of Landfills landscapes collage China

Take a few steps back or perhaps just squint your eyes and these images by artist Yao Lu might resemble traditional Chinese landscape paintings of cliffs, waterfalls, and mountains. Look a bit closer and your perspective may change. Lu digitally assembles each of her images using photographs of landfills and other aspects of urbanization draped in green mesh to mimic idyllic scenery. Similar to the recent work of Yang Yongliang featured on this blog just last week, Lu seems to be making a thinly-veiled commentary on the encroaching ecological threat of urbanization. See much more over at Bruce Silverstein Gallery. (via beautiful decay)

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang

Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Sleepless Wonderland, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Snake and Grenade, Lightbox, 2012

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Snake and Grenade, Lightbox, 2012 (detail)

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Wolf and Landmines, Lightbox, 2012

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Full Moon, Lightbox, 2012

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Bowl of Tapei No. 03, 2012

The Silent City: Digitally Assembled Futuristic Megalopolises by Yang Yongliang digital collage China
Bowl of Tapei No. 04, 2012

Chinese artist Yang Yongliang (previously) recently released three new bodies of work that will be on view at Galerie Paris-Beijing from from March 14th to April 27th, 2013. Born in Shanghai in 1980, Yongliang is known for his sprawling photographic collages that depict the devastating effects of uncontrolled urbanisation and industrialisation. At a distance the works look like traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy but when viewed up close, the peaceful mountains and seascapes are found to be choked with buildings, factories, and machinery. The images of above scarcely convey the detail in these pieces, but look at this high resolution version of Sleepless Wonderland to get an idea. Head over to Galerie Paris-Beijing to explore more of the three collections titled Silent Valley, Moonlight, and a Bowl of Taipei. All images courtesy the gallery.

By Christopher on February 18, 2013 • China collage digital

Green Pedestrian Crossing in China Creates Leaves from Footprints

Green Pedestrian Crossing in China Creates Leaves from Footprints trees leaves installation environment China advertising

Jody Xiong of DDB China in conjunction with the China Environmental Protection Foundation created this wonderful outdoor campaign to create a subtle visual reminder of the environmental benefits of walking versus driving. Enormous white canvases with a bare tree were placed across 132 crosswalks in 15 Chinese cities. As pedestrians crossed their shoe soles were imprinted with a small amount of green paint, leaving behind a trail of leaf-like footprints. BBD estimated that nearly 3,920,000 people passed through the installations, and the final posters were eventually hung has billboards in several urban locations. Awesome! (via moeity)

By Christopher on August 25, 2012 • advertising China environment installation leaves trees

An Abstract Collage of Beijing Neighborhoods Creates a Colorful Stencil on a Dilapidated Courtyard Wall

An Abstract Collage of Beijing Neighborhoods Creates a Colorful Stencil on a Dilapidated Courtyard Wall street art maps graffiti China

BlinkingCity is a unique collaboration between Marcella Campa and Stefano Avesani. The duo created this colorful abstract collage using several maps from the rapidly transforming Hutong neighborhoods in Beijing. Here’s how they describe it:

Blinking City is a project investigating the inadequacy of traditional maps for city environments characterized by fast pace transformation and urban growth. As soon as the map is done, the city it describes has already gone. We transferred one of the Blinking City pattern, based on a collage of several Hutong neighbourhoods of Beijing, onto a wall of a dilapidated courtyard house in Xianyukou district, located in the core of the city.

See much more of the project over on Behance.

By Christopher on July 20, 2012 • China graffiti maps street art

An Underwater Tree in Jiuzhaigou Valley

An Underwater Tree in Jiuzhaigou Valley trees China

A stunning photograph of a submerged tree taken by Flickr user Melinda while visiting the incredibly beautiful Jiuzhaigou Valley in China. She also runs a great blog with all kinds of beautiful landscape goodness, well worth a visit. (via fasels suppe)

By Christopher on July 12, 2012 • China trees

Jiang Pengyi’s Miniature Decaying Urban Landscapes

(click images for detail)

When checking out the Blindspot Gallery site I almost skipped right over these photographs by Jiang Pengyi thinking they were nothing more than ruin porn, but a closer glance revealed something quite different. Amongst the filthy detritus in Pengyi’s photographs, entire miniature cities emerge from the shadows, as if the evolution of cockroaches had dramatically accelerated resulting in the construction of bug-sized skyscrapers and transit systems. Though the photos aren’t meant as commentary on wildlife, but rather the excessive urbanization, redevelopment and demolition in the city of Beijing. Many more images here.

By Christopher on September 12, 2011 • China cityscapes environment miniature urbanization

China in a Mirror

China in a Mirror people optical illusion mirrors cityscapes China

I’m loving the symmetry created in these mirror photographs of urban China by Austrian designer and photographer Atelier Olschinsky. See the entire series here, and his recently published illustrations entitled Game Zone are pretty mind-blowing as well.