history – Anthropology of the World's Fairs

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is currently hosting an exhibit by Bodys Isek Kingelez of miniature models of an imagined city. Working in Zaire in the 1970s, Kingelez (who died in 2015) created what he called “extreme maquettes” which were scenes and individual buildings of a city for the future, one in which creativity and an artistic imagination rued. Most interestingly, he created these models using common materials: paper, wood, old tin cans, plastic, and string. The show continues until January 1, 2019 and should be viewed by any miniaturist who enjoys having their opinions challenged in terms of what miniatures can tell us about creativity and the imagination.

CNN has posted a story about some miniature artists who are recreating scenes from famous photographs. I am not a fan of thinking of history only as military actions or disasters (which most but not all of these photographs document) but you can look at these dioramas and see the techniques they used to achieve great results. So while you are waiting for me to report on miniatures and the Flower and Garden Show at Disney World, check out this work:

I think this quote from one of the artists does a disservice to their work and to miniatures in general:

“All these tiny things, I think everybody likes it,” agreed Cortis. “Maybe it’s like remembering childhood when you played with little things.”

Miniatures are not about playthings. Too bad they can see that because they are doing what miniatures do best: create alternative worlds we can “enter” and experience.Anyway, they do nice work.