jie ma conceptualizes architectural visions of imagined library landscapes

jie ma conceptualizes architectural visions of imagined library landscapes
(above) ‘eclipse VII: deep reverence for arnold böcklin’
all images courtesy of jie ma

shanghai-based artist jie ma disrupts our familiar surroundings with a series of otherworldly landscapes and imagined extraterrestrial environments, both unusual yet strangely familiar at the same time. using books as a motif and a symbol throughout, ma’s compositions re-imagine traditional library spaces as exotic and surreal architectural destinations, with staggeringly-tall shelves of reading material towering into the air and over-sized encyclopedias ten times the size of nearby figures. elliptical geometries are cut-out from concrete surfaces and structures, allowing natural light from the outside to peek within the dark interior. the presence of a few figures within each scene allow for a sense of the scale ma attempts,

‘eclipse V’

‘eclipse IV’

‘eclipse IX’

‘eclipse III’

‘eclipse VI’

‘eclipse VIII’

‘eclipse II’