Matthew Albanese's Strange Worlds
Using everyday items such as spices, herbs, and steel wool, artist Matthew Albanese creates eerily realistic landscapes of the Earth, the moon, and Mars. VIEW OUR GALLERY.
Matthew Albanese ,
This Arctic scene is actually a combination of 20 pounds of sugar, jello and corn syrup. Albanese grew the crystals in his studio over the course of two months.
Matthew Albanese
This is the first “strange world” that Albanese created after accidentally spilling a jar of paprika. The landscape is made out of paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder and charcoal.
Matthew Albanese
The ground of this forest is made of parsley, clippings from a bush, and moss. Tile grout was used for the mountains, cotton for the distant clouds and dry ice for the atmospheric perspective.
Matthew Albanese
This image was made by photographing a beam of colored light against a black curtain to achieve the edge effect. The trees were composited from life (so far the only real-life element in any of these images) and the stars are actually beams of strobe light shining through holes in a corkboard.
Matthew Albanese
Matthew Albanese
Matthew Albanese
It took Albanese two months to accumulate enough fireplace ash to create this lunar landscape, which was inspired by the classic Apollo 11 image. The darker rocks are made out of mixed tile grout and the flag is actually crumpled paper and wire. The Earth is a video still projected on the wall.
Matthew Albanese
The set of the living room, which Albanese later set on fire, is made from wood, nylon, Plexiglas and purchased dollhouse furniture.
Matthew Albanese
Matthew Albanese
This model is made out of glass, Plexiglas, tile grout, twigs, salt, painted canvas and dry ice. The waterfall was created from a timed exposure of falling table salt.
Matthew Albanese
This model uses faux fur (for the fields), cotton (clouds) and sifted tile grout (mountains) to create the illusion of a sun setting on the field after a storm. Albanese manipulated the white balance to achieve the lighting effect.
Matthew Albanese
The lava coming out of this volcano, made out of tile grout, cotton, and phosphorous ink, is actually just light emanating from six 60-watt light bulbs.
Matthew Albanese
Matthew Albanese
Matthew Albanese
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
- Account (completed)
- Payment (completed)
- Confirmation (completed)
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
- 1Account
- 2Payment
- 3Confirmation