Two landscapes transformed

I came across the work of Clement Valla recently which includes “Bridges”

a project which manipulates computer software to create completely changed landscapes.

Postcards from google Earth, Bridges 2010 by Clement Valla

Valla noticed a bug in Google Earth 3D view which failed to recognise the integrity of bridges and continued rendering them using the altitude of the ground below. The result is an earthquake affected landscape on screen. At the flick of a switch technology creates a new art - an avenue that will be exploited more and more to blur the lines between fact and fiction.

Postcards from Google Earth, Bridges 2010 by Clement Valla.

If Vallas work is maximum result for minimum effort then the work of Francis Alys turns that upside down. Faith Moves Mountains (2002) is similarly landscape transformed but using human effort rather than computer technology. At the foot of a giant sand dune near Lima 500 volunteers were supplied with shovels and moved a sixteen hundred foot long monument of sand about four inches from its original position.

Still from When Faith Moves Mountains 2002 In collaboration with Cuauhtemoc Medina and Rafael Ortega. Courtesy of David Zwirner, NY

Still from When Faith Moves Mountains 2002 In collaboration with Cuauhtemoc Medina and Rafael Ortega. Courtesy of David Zwirner, NY

An extraordinary scale of vision although the intention was merely to seek an understanding of myth and the imprint left in peoples minds. The contrast in the actions and the finished object left is relevant to both artists but fascinating to see two approaches which could be described as being at two ends of the same scale.