Berlin-based paper artist Katrin Rodegast has always been interested in human biology, and in collecting old, illustrated science books. So, when science and tech university ETH Zurich asked her to create body parts made out of maps of Zurich, she jumped at the chance. Showcasing the university’s initiative to develop an artificial heart, her project Anatomical Paper Organs aims to convey “how detailed and fragile our organs, body parts and bones are – and how special. I think their fragility is very well displayed by the use of paper: we need to take good care of them.” The hardest part of the project, Rodegast found, was sourcing the maps. “In the age of smartphones, nobody uses paper city maps any more: in most of the bookstores the vendors opened nearly empty drawers.”
