ILevel, NYC’s expert picture hanging company, is known for creating surprising and beautiful arrangements of art in homes and offices. It’s no surprise that David Kassel, the owner of ILevel, has interesting collections of his own. David’s new book, A Slice Through America, A Geological Atlas, is a collection of diagrams depicting cross-sections of the earth and its resources.
He first began collecting these diagrams while a student at SUNY Purchase in the 1970s. At ten cents a piece, he planned to use them for collage material. He was immediately struck by the beauty of their lines and earth colors. Today he has a collection of over 200 diagrams, and 50 of them are featured in his new geological atlas.
The diagrams were created by federal and state geologists over the course of one hundred years. Who would’ve known that drawings created to describe sedimentary rock and the earth’s natural resources could be so fascinating? The colors, lines, and shapes are bold. The collection as a whole is mesmerizing. The drawings provide a new perspective of the ground beneath our feet and engender a new appreciation of the places where we live.
For Kassel, the importance of these diagrams goes beyond inspired graphic design. As David puts it, “In our time of climate catastrophe, I’ve begun to feel comforted by these stratigraphic views of the earth. They present the big picture-what’s at stake. They make the earth’s layers look permanent, but they also reveal the great forces of the past. The vast landscapes below the surface reassure me that it’ll all change, as it always has-oceans will take the place of deserts, mountains the place of swamps. But come what may, the earth’s crust will continue to fold, incline, compress, and weather. Mixed in the upheavals of future geological events will be layers with aluminum and plastic.”
The book features an Introduction by geologist Joanne Bourgeois. Environmentalist and author, Bill McKibben says, “Here’s an entirely new way for most of us to look at the places we live in and love-the beauty of these drawings is matched only by the stories they tell about both deep geological history and the human saga of extraction.”
The book is ready for preorder now from papress.com. You can see part of the collection in-person by appointment at the ILevel offices. To visit us, please call 212.477.4319 or email info@ilevel.biz.
And as always, if you need picture hanging help with any of your own collections, please get in touch!