This article was taken from the August 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Benjamin Grant spots art in the everyday -- from 600km up. "I've always been trying to find ways to get people more interested in space," says the 25-year-old New Yorker. For his blog, The Daily Overview, Grant -- a brand strategy consultant by day, astro-artist by night -- scours satellite imagery for scenes of unexpected beauty. So what first appears as an impressionistic seascape is actually the terraced rice paddies of China's Yunnan province, and coloured hatchbacks in a New Jersey car park look like Damien Hirst dots.
The discovery first came when Grant was exploring on Apple Maps. "I typed 'Earth' into the search bar, hoping to view Earth as a whole. But it took me to Earth, Texas (pictured left)," he explains. "I saw an 80km-wide shot of pivot irrigation fields -- huge, perfect circles of green. I started to wonder what else could look cool from above." Grant uses Apple Maps for satellite images, positioning and framing each shot before editing in Photoshop. "I love things that are coloured or systematically organised," he says.
A selection of works will be exhibited at the Deutsches Museum in Munich later this year. "I'm trying to [show] the impact humans have had on the landscape," says Grant. "Once you realise it's not art but satellite imagery, you're forced to ask, 'What is going on here?'"
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
