Inspired by the 1896 H.G. Wells sci-fi novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, the italian artist Andrea Mastrovito has created a fantastical illustration collage made from hand-cut books.
Inspired by the 1896 H.G. Wells sci-fi novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, the italian artist Andrea Mastrovito has created a fantastical illustration collage made from hand-cut books.
Titled The Island of Dr. Mastrovito and The Island of Dr. Mastrovito II, the piece was first installed at Governors Island in New York back in 2010 and again last year in a different configuration at Mudac in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The striking installation invaded the space with colonies of bats, butterflies and all sorts of insects, mammals and plants, assembled from hundreds of cutouts from repurposed textbooks. Approximately 700 books were used by the artist to cut out real-size images of the items.
Just as the “mad” scientist in H. G. Wells’ famous novel experimented upon animals giving them human traits, in this “island” the artist seems to install life in what was once alive in a different way: books from paper, paper from wood and wood from trees. It’s like the outside fauna has taken control of the abandoned house and they have become its proper inhabitants.
This paper diorama also reflects on the strength of images, the infinite possibilities that books and stories can give us in order to create and re-create the world that we can only imagine.
You can see more of Mastrovito’s work in his website.
What book would you want to see come alive?
