Photorealistic balls of precious metals placed outside their mines

Artist Dillon Marsh uses CGI balls of metal placed outside of mines to show how much was extracted from each location. The project is called For What It’s Worth.

These images combine photography and computer generated elements in an effort to visualise the output of a mine. The CGI objects represent a scale model of the materials removed from each mine, a solid mass occupying a scene showing the ground from which it was extracted. By doing so, the intention is to create a kind of visualisation of the merits and shortfalls of mining in South Africa, an industry that has shaped the history and economy of the country so radically.

The one above is for the Nababeep South Mine in Nababeep. Love the sense of scale the pieces provide, especially the ones for diamonds, which actually show quite little.