Renowned British contemporary artist, Damien Hirst, has released a new series of works titled "Black Scalpel Cityscapes". Now, the title of these pieces might give you a clue as to what they're made out of, but to look at them from afar, you'd never guess! The series consists of several painstakingly created maps of real cities (including London, Leeds and San Francisco) that look like the kind of satellite image bird's eye view that you would see on Google Maps. Let's take a look and see if you can tell what they're made from.
Website: Damien Hirst
This first one depicts Rio.
If you can't tell what the piece is made from, here's a closer look.
That's right, these maps are made from razor-sharp surgical scalpels. We think Hirst must have got a few nicks while creating these works of art!
Like any great contemporary artist, Hirst's work isn't just for show, it also has a message. "The Black Scalpel Cityscapes" series is a commentary on a type of military procedure known as "surgical strikes", in which precise areas of a city are targeted for bombing to try to limit causalities. The idea is to make you think about how these remote, even digitally controlled strikes divorce those taking part in them from the tragic and devastating realities of war. 
Of course, art is always open for critical interpretation, so take what you will from these pieces.
Here you can get an idea of scale as you see one of these maps being mounted for display at Sao Paulo's White Cube Gallery.
We love this series from Damien Hirst. The technical detail is amazing, and its always good when artwork provokes deep thoughts.
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