Jason LaFerrera | Art
A Mathematician's digitally-manipulated maps depicting birds and beasts
Combining two of the nerdiest disciplines out there, ornithology and cartography, former music producer Jason LaFerrera creates curious collages of birds and beasts by recasting old maps into quaintly colorful still-life—of the kind more commonly seen on postage stamps.
"I digitally manipulate cartographic materials to create fauna, mostly birds, in poses reminiscent of field guides from a similarly early era of publication," the Richmond, VA native's site explains. "The patterns of forests and shores often become an animal's feathers or fur, while the rings of topography often trace out wings or antlers." By posing the beauty of maps themselves with idealized depictions of nature, LaFerrera (who currently studies Mathematics at Columbia) is a kind of eco-Duchamp, drawing on readymades, upcycling and cliché images to make a point about our relationship to the natural world.
"The Atlas is Painless" runs through 28 August 2010 in Tennessee.
Combining two of the nerdiest disciplines out there, ornithology and cartography, former music producer Jason LaFerrera creates curious collages of birds and beasts by recasting old maps into quaintly colorful still-life—of the kind more commonly seen on postage stamps.
"I digitally manipulate cartographic materials to create fauna, mostly birds, in poses reminiscent of field guides from a similarly early era of publication," the Richmond, VA native's site explains. "The patterns of forests and shores often become an animal's feathers or fur, while the rings of topography often trace out wings or antlers." By posing the beauty of maps themselves with idealized depictions of nature, LaFerrera (who currently studies Mathematics at Columbia) is a kind of eco-Duchamp, drawing on readymades, upcycling and cliché images to make a point about our relationship to the natural world.
"The Atlas is Painless" runs through 28 August 2010 in Tennessee.
