Recycled Maps: Cool US Road Atlas Wall Collage

funky US MAp 2.jpg Ever wondered what to do with an old road atlas? We think we have an idea. This unique wall art greeted us when we walked into Trusty’s in Southeast DC...

Road map wall art.jpg
We've talked about Maps becoming makeshift wallpaper before, but this is a whole new approach. This particular piece of wall art is composed of various old US road maps cobbled together to create a funky decoupage masterpiece. We were impressed when we thought the artist had just taken apart the map and pieced it together like a large jigsaw puzzle – We were blown away when we realized that they had altered the states into different shapes and put them the wrong locations.

The overall effect was totally trippy and very cool.

Comments (6)

blown away? In a good way??

I guess if you're into this sort of thing, you could cull inspiration from the Smithsonian American Art Museum's neon-light map/video installation of the U.S., "Electronic Superhighway." (Definitely trippy.)

Picture and details here:

http://districtschmistrict.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/local-color/

I love to see old maps re-purposed in new ways. Thanks for another great idea!

That looks really cool, and it could be an inexpensive way to get some original artwork on your wall.

I love old maps- this one looks like all the states are in the correct spot- but I guess they must not be- It's not hard, though, to figure out what you mean. It makes it far more interesting to take apart Pennsylvania so that it can make up the shape of Colorado. So that when you look closely, Los Angeles might be in Kansas! Cool idea. Some concrete types might find this hard to fathom.... Don't let those mannerless people with comments get to you, C.

What a fun idea! I love maps and think the wallpaper idea is fun, or shelf lining. Thanks for sharing it!