What if we filled the world with nothing but cars, or skyscrapers, or if we simply started building an industrialized mountain (like a modern-day Tower of Babel) that reached forever upward?

Michael Kerbow is a San Francisco explores ways in which a world could end of industry were iterated to a point of near-infinite proportions – his works depict bottomless mines, planets covered (and carved out) with man-made structures and much more.

With titles like Fool’s Gold, Hollow Pursuits, Witching Hour and Diminishing Returns, it seems clear where the artist stands on the issue of endless industrialization in the face of limited resources and finite space.

While he works with assemblage and digitally-manipulated photography, Kerbow’s large-scale paintings in particular show fascinating possible worlds where urbanization has pushed past the limits of reason and sustainability.

Of himself, he writes: “My work explores the way in which we engage with our surroundings and the possible consequences our actions have upon the world in which we live. Through my work I attempt to question the rationale of our choices, and try to reveal the dichotomy that may exist between what we desire and what we manifest. Recently my work has focused upon the mechanisms that power our society and examines how they may influence the construct for a possible future.”