The absence of human #7 presents empty city bird's eye view embodying ultimate urban paradox—roads designed for traffic stand vacant, sidewalks built for pedestrians remain untrodden, landmarks constructed for crowds exist in isolation. Rey's overhead perspective strips modern metropolis of its defining characteristic: human presence. This deliberate abandonment creates surreal juxtaposition where familiar geometry persists while the congested symphony of honking and footsteps vanishes, exposing infrastructure as skeletal framework awaiting animation.
Programmed Human is a photographic project that aims to subvert the conventional perception of a bustling modern city. Through a series of cenital landscape photographs, a desolate urban sprawl is revealed, stripped of the usual rush of cars and people. The juxtaposition of emptiness against familiar urban landmarks creates a surreal setting. In this deliberate depiction of abandonment, the project highlights the chaotic and congested symphony that typically envelops city life but often goes unnoticed. The absence of human activity in the images represents the ultimate paradox. By removing the typical visual and auditory markers of a crowded city, the project exposes the invisible layers of noise and disruption that permeate our urban existence.
The absence of human #7 empty city bird's eye view reveals metropolitan paradox—infrastructure without inhabitants exposing urban chaos. From Programmed Human. Available at The Art Design Project, Miami Beach.
Empty City Bird's Eye View – Absence of Human by Javier Rey
The absence of human #7, 2023
From the Programmed Human series
Metallic archival pigment print
Limited Edition.
Unframed
Javier Rey is a Colombian artist and photographer. His work has been shown in many collective exhibitions, solo exhibitions, and several international art fairs such as ArtLima (Peru), Scope Art Fair (Miami), and La Feria Del Millón (Colombia). Rey's work has also appeared in books such as "Unlocked", by the Greek collective Atopos, and was chosen as one of the 145 most relevant visual artists and photographers on the web in 2015. His work have been featured in several publications in Colombia, the USA, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Denmark, and other countries.
