Idyllic Chinese Landscapes Made from Trash
Beauty is a lie in the photographs of Yao Lu.
Picture a traditional Chinese landscape painting and you'll probably visualise a mountain with a pagoda half-shrouded in mist. Knowing this, and hoping to make an unequivocal comment on China's pollution problem, photographer Yao Lu has pulled a neat piece of visual trickery: in New Landscapes he creates idyllic vistas that at first appear to depict nature in all its glory but which are actually composed of landfill trash.
After arranging the piles of waste into something resembling organic forms and photographing them disguised under construction netting, Yao Lu used editing techniques to insert the conventional artistic elements of trees, pagodas and the red seal. The result raises the question: is this where China's natural world is headed?
The works are on show at Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York.
Via PSFK.
- Twenty-Five Movies That You Can Stream This Christmas No Matter How You Feel About the Festive Season
- The Best Waterfalls Near Sydney You Can Swim Under
- The Best Coastal Walks in Sydney to Try This Summer
- The Most Beautiful Coastal Stays You Can Book in Noosa
- The 50 Best Bars in Sydney Right Now — Ranked
- Ten of the Most Blissful Waterfront Stays You Can Book in East Gippsland