British artist Stephen Walter created The Island, a zoomable, spoof-historical map of London that satirises the city's vision of itself as independent from the rest of the country. Built up from historical information, trivia, local knowledge and stereotypes, the map reveals a meticulously detailed scan of the city's past and present in words, symbols and colloquial descriptions. Navigating through the map proves to be an exciting treasure hunt, especially if you know London. Here are a few capture shots, but be sure to explore it yourself!

In an interview with The Guardian, he says:

"From a distance my works can look like medieval manuscripts, but looking closer at them reveals words, symbols, marks and other elements that are very contemporary."

To draw he uses graphite on paper. He also explains the process:

"I work from top left to bottom right, repeating this process four or five times. Firstly, I draw the main infrastructure of the geographical area – roads, borders, bridges and railways. And then I add the written information in small segments."

All images copyright © Stephen Walter

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