These Neon Lights Show The Growth Of Shanghai’s Urban DNA

Shanghai is, unfortunately, seeing record levels of smog lately, but there's no sign of dull toxic haze in this neon display by artist Lu Xinjian. "City Light" is a glowing part of I Love Shanghai, an exhibition at the local Art Labor gallery; here, pop stylings and primary colors actually show the real-life urban grid—with a Google Earth by way of Keith Haring vibe.

The flash-enabled display blinks and grows out from a single blue square into an abstract map that's originally drawn from satellite data.

Xinjian has been giving the world's most recognizable metropolises a somewhat playful geometric angle for years now, reducing these hubs to abstract shapes and brightening them up enough to make them all but unrecognizable. Could you make out New York, Zurich, or Madrid from above? [designboom]