... this blogger should have given to thee...
... nine creative weirdos...
... eight things I loved...
... seven shoes to choose from...
... six party dresses...
... five gold rings!..
... four favoured films...
... three rosy bubbles...
... two iterations...
... and a tale for tugging heart strings.
For a couple of years now, I've been almost posting something. And then never really finding the right way to include it because it's kind of weird, but when I first ready about it, I thought it was the most curious thing.
The thing was the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death...
... I'm not intending to do a post about true crime, or zombies, or anything gruesome, it's just my jumping off point for Day 10 and creative miniature worlds.
The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death are a series of eighteen (though there were originally twenty) intricately handmade dioramas, representing crime scene, recreated by Frances Glessner Lee, who was also known as "the mother of forensic science", between 1896 and 1949.
Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death || "Red Room" || Photo by Lorie Shaull
Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death || "Log Cabin" || Photo by Lorie Shaull
"Convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth in a nutshell."
- Frances Glessner Lee
The viewer is looking at the crime scene at the moment the police officer arrives at the scene, a composite of actual cases out of history, they're purpose to help train homicide detectives how to assess a crime scene and discern between the relevant and irrelevant evidence within that space. These were from a time were the standard practices you see within crime scene investigation didn't exist. Real crime scenes would be disturbed, evidence including weapons and bodies moved, no gloves or means to prevent contamination of the scene, thus hampering investigations. The Nutshell Studies showed the importance of everything remaining just as it was when the police arrived and proved that you didn't need to enter a crime scene and root around to solve it, you could learn just as much if not more by just looking.
Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death || "Dark Bathroom" || Photo by Lorie Shaull
I find these dioramas kind of fascinating in a macabre kind of way. But the detail Glessner Lee put into them, down to knitting the tiny stockings worn by the dolls, in a time when women didn't go to university, is incredible and she used her hobby and interest in crime scene investigation, to form a means of education, when none really existed prior. An heiress, she used her inheritance to established the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 1936, donating her first Nutshell Study in 1946.
While the department, the first in the US, was dissolved in 1966, the Nutshell Studies found at new home, educating officers at the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore, and seventy years later, they're still in use.
Which is incredible for grim little murder houses.
Link || Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death || Wikipedia
Link || Frances Glessner Lee || Wikipedia
Link || Peek Into Tiny Crime Scenes Built by an Obsessed Millionaire by Erika Engelhaupt via National Geographic
Link || Home Is Where the Corpse Is - At Least In These Dollhouse Crime Scenes by Meilan Solly via Smithsonian Magazine
Link || Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death via American Art
From murder scenes to post-apocalyptic urban landscapes, and much like the Nutshell Studies, these dystopian scenes by artist Lori Nix and partner Kathleen Gerber, are all about the mundane environment after human life has gone.
And they are impeccably detailed.
Nix+Gerber || "Library" || 2007
Nix+Gerber || "Botanic Garden" || 2008
Nix+Gerber || "Church" || 2009
Nix+Gerber || "Mall" || 2010
Creating everything they photograph, this became a meta experience with the ultimate nod to a future without human life, with their own artists studio being the subject without its inhabitants. They recreated every book, every CD, all their craft and art supplies strew around, their blinds and curtains half shut and extension cords running from one area of the studio to the other, even the previous miniature (recreated as a micro miniature) left abandoned on their desk, Nix photography equipment still in position.
Nix+Gerber || "Living Room" || 2013
Once the photograph is taken, Nix+Gerber destroy the models. They salvage any reusable materials or items they've made for future projects before dismantling the diorama, and thus months of painstaking work is only remember in a single image.
I think these are epic. I might be being swayed by my penchant for dystopian aesthetics in TV and movies, but it's the detail. These aren't just dioramas or dolls houses, they're statements about how the natural takes over the man made and how practical illusions are often more impressive and dynamic than digital ones.
Link || Nix + Gerber Studio || Website || Instagram || Facebook
Link || Lori Nix || Website || Instagram || Wikipedia
Link || A Short Film Detailing the Miniature Replication of Nix + Gerber's Post Apocalyptic Studio by Kate Sierzputowski via This Is Colossal
Link || New Miniature Post-Apocalyptics Environments by Lori Nix & Kathleen Gerber by Kate Sierzputowski via This Is Colossal
Link || Incredible Photos Show What Post-Apocalyptic America Might Look Like by Harrison Jacobs via Business Insider
Link || Is THIS what the end of the world will look like? [...] via The Daily Mail Online
Lori Nix is not alone in using miniatures as a means of curating the perfect photograph before deconstructing months of work and starting over.
However, unlike Nix's foreshadowing dystopian landscapes, Matthew Albanese creates hyper realistic landscapes made out of everyday objects ranging from grout, glass, moss, feathers, cotton and faux fur, to ground spices and sugar, which he uses in all forms possible to give different textures to his work.
Albanese's project entitled "Strange Worlds" features weeping willows made of ostrich feathers, hand dyed and glued to the trees branches allowing to move and sway as the air around it moves. The surface of Mars is layers of paprika, cinnamon, thyme, nutmeg and chilli sifted over chunks of charcoal, while glacial landscapes are made of kilograms of sugar cooked to different temperatures to achieve different textures which mimic the icy formations which have naturally broken and cracked as its moves and melts. Even grasslands are made of faux fur instead of more traditional model making materials such as static grass, allowing it to be brushed and blown into natural undulating formations.
Movement, lighting and forced perspective are at the upmost importance in Albanese's miniatures because they bring life and drama to a static object. One image can be lit in as a beautiful golden sunset in one image and then grey, dull and stormy in another, with a fan manipulating the leaves of a tree or the way water appears to move.
It's clever and the detail he puts into his models, and the lighting, and the fine details, end up with really emotive and realistic photograph that at first glance, you wouldn't necessarily clock. A lot of this is down to his abilities as a photographer, but being able to choose materials that will mimic natural objects but in miniature, is really impressive.
It still makes me cringe a little that after all the work and time that these artists put into their work, that they're just dismantled. I realise that for photographers like Albanese and Nix, it's all about the photo and the diorama is just a means to an ends, but the crafter in me just feels like these models are just as artistic and beautiful as the final product, and it feels like such a waste to bin them.
I'm a craft hoarder though. I made a tiny shoddy mock up of the letterbox for the window at work, which barely stood up, was held together with tape and was wonky as hell, but I can't get rid of it yet. If I've made a maquette for something at any point in my life, I've probably held on to it for years afterwards. But I like model making to design over drawing, so I can't help the hoarding.
Link || Matthew Albanese || Website || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Flickr || YouTube || Behance
Link || A Behind-the-Scenes Glimps of Matthew Albanese's Magical Miniature World by Michael Zhang via PetaPixel
Link || Strange Worlds by Matthew Albanese by Michael Zhang via PetaPixal
Link || How Landscape Photos Are Really Made by Justina via Bored Panda
Link || Matthew Albanese Crafts A Moving Miniature Landscape Using Humble Household Material by Peter Corboy via Design Boom
Link || Matthew Albanese's Strange Worlds via Daily Beast
Hyper-realistic dioramas are impressive, they're full of detail and precision, but they're also replicating either existing places or amalgamations of places out of any and all material which give the most realistic effect.
Limiting yourself to two or three materials, a knife and your imagination may outwardly appear incredibly simplistic in comparison, but I find it as beautiful and more joyous.
Charles Young's Paperholm began life as a 365 Day creative project in 2014, the architect/artist challenging himself to create one miniature architectural model a day out of 220gsm watercolour paper, PVA glue and a base made of small blocks of wood or stones. On top of this to add whimsy, there are curiosities lurking amongst the paper buildings, dinosaurs, anteaters and many moving parts pop up and allowed Young to create quick animations within his simple architectural models.
As much as I appreciate and love the hyper-realistic, I'll take this in a heartbeat.
Link || Charles Young || Website || Instagram || Twitter || YouTube || Etsy
Link || Miniature Animated Metropolis Made of Paper by Charles Young via Strictly Paper
Link || Artist Charles Young is Building a Vast Paper City, One Tiny Model at a Time by Christopher Jobson via This is Colossal
Link || Artist Charles Young Completes Work on Daily Paper Model Project After Designing 365 Structures by Christopher Jobson via This is Colossal
Link || Artist Charles Young's Growing Metropolis of 635 Paper Structures by Christopher Jobson via This is Colossal
Link || Miniature Paper Architecture That Moves by Charles Young by Alice Yoo via My Modern Met
Link || Charles Young Expands His Animated, Mini-Metropolis Made of Paper by Nina Azzarello via Design Boom
Paper isn't an unusual material for making models. It's probably one of the first materials most artists and designers turn to when creating, whether that's for drawing or making a miniature of their final piece, and that's because it's readily available, cheap and recyclable. But a lot of artists - obviously - choose this as their material of choice from the get go, to great effect.
Malena Valcárcel || "Living on an Olive Branch"
Malena Valcárcel || "Living on an Olive Branch (Detail)"
Malena Valcárcel || "Treehouse Book Art"
Malena Valcárcel || "Treehouse Book Art (Detail)"
Malena Valcárcel || "Treehouse Book Sculpture"
Malena Valcárcel || "Treehouse Book Sculpture"
Malena Valcárcel || "Treehouse Book Sculpture (Detail)"
This style of sculpture isn't unusual, there are many artists who utilise old books for their artwork, the most well known probably being Su Blackwell who's work has been used in books, advertisements and window displays to great acclaim, and has become synonymous with book art. Another example is the literary book sculptures left in cultural locations around Edinburgh between 2011 and 2013 by an anonymous female paper sculptor. However Valcárcel's have a beautiful quality that I personally love.
Am I going to ransack the house of books for paper? Would you be surprised to know I kind of did. I had dozens of crappy chick-lit novels I'd read as a teenager and wanted rid of, but wanting to save people from the same reading mistakes of my youth, I decided to dissect them for materials... only problem was every page I used ended up either being covered in curse words or questionably written sexual acts. Needless to say if/when I use the paper, things will either need painted or heavily redacted.
Choose the books you want to recycle carefully because without fail the most inappropriate text will always end up right where it's most visible.
Link || Malena Valcárcel || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Etsy || Behance || DeviantArt
Link || I Upcycle Old Books By Turning Them Into Magical Sculptures by Malena Valcárcel via Bored Panda
Link || I Make Paper Miniatures By Upcycling Old Books by Malena Valcárcel via Bored Panda
Link || Interview with Spanish artist Malena Valcárcel via Easy Print Blog
For those less inclined to ransack their bookshelves for materials, but instead want to carefully curate their library, book nooks may be a perfect way to slip a miniature diorama into your world.
u/macksdhart || "Endor"
During one of my Monthly Ramblings last year, I posted about a Japanese artist called Monde and the back alley dioramas that were made to fit between two standard sized paperbacks on a bookshelf, often including an angled mirror, to trick the eye into thinking the void housing the diorama is significantly deeper and bringing greater depth to the sculpture. Those were created in 2018, a year later the idea started to become popular among people posting on Reddit, and the subreddit r/booknooks jumped from no members to nearly eight thousand in just two days. It's now hit twenty thousand subscribers. The creative weirdos of the world are really embracing this new and intriguing art form.
I made a booknook for a Christmas gift, my inspiration was Blade Runner. It's larger than ones we have see, it's 11" x 6". from r/booknooks
The nice thing about Book Nooks is that they can feed the literary fan's fantasy by transporting you into either a random little world, or one that's part of those worlds created within the pages of your favourite book, Diagon Alley from Harry Potter being a prime example.
Again, I come from a book loving family, so for them the idea of destroying a book is sacrilegious. However the idea of having a little slip of a diorama, lit within the space between two books - given we also have a familial penchant for fairy lights - most definitely will appeal.
And before you ask - not that you did, but I know at least two members of my family will be getting ideas - I've already got an idea for making one these based off of the first introduction Sarah has to the maze in Labyrinth. And yes, there will be lights, but more importantly there will be glitter. So much glitter!
Link || r/booknooks via Reddit
Link || 33 Bookshelf Inserts That Book Lovers Will Appreciate by Liucija Adomaite and Mindaugas Balčiauskas via BoredPanda
Link || Book Nook Shelf Inserts Are Really Cool [...] by Christopher Hudspeth via Buzzfeed
Link || Take A Look Behind 'Small Doors to Imaginary Spaces' Within Bookshelves by Tom Gerken via BBC Trending
Link || Book Nook Shelf Inserts Make Your Bookshelf Even More Magical by Mia Nakaji Monnier via Apartment Therapy
Containing a miniature within a box seems like a pretty sensible concept, it creates a contained vignette letting the viewer peer into another world.
Shadow boxes - akin to traditional picture frames but deeper - are the perfect carrier for these models and artists such as Andy Acres have taken this style of diorama to a beautifully eerie end.
Andy Acres || "Derelict Greenhouse Shadow Box"
Andy Acres || "Derelict Greenhouse Shadow Box (Detail)"
Andy Acres || "Bad Harvest in the Hollow"
Andy Acres || "Beyond The Garden"
Andy Acres || "The Witch, Banished in 1861"
My favourite by far is the greenhouse. The interior viewpoint with overgrown vines and trees and that dim, foggy light creating shapes on the broken panes of glass is really effective. I love the aesthetic of abandoned buildings, and Acres has managed to capture in this diorama that feeling of decay. First glass breaks, paint flakes away, wood rots from water damage, brick cracks, leaves gather and plants gradually creep inside, as the bones of the building start to become visible. The skeleton of the building's still there, if you were standing inside that greenhouse you'd still feel protected, but only just, it wouldn't be comfortable, and Acres has really captured that. It's wonderful.
Link || Andy Acres || Website || Instagram || Etsy
Link || Model Maker Creates Spooky Miniature Scenes Framed Within Shadow Box Dioramas by Emma Taggart via My Modern Met
Link || Model Maker Builds Creepy Miniature Scenes Featured Within Shadow Box Dioramas by Justin Page via Laughing Squid
Telling a story is a huge part of the art of dioramas, Whether it's so a crime can be solved, a predicted future can be forecast or a sense of uneasiness can be created, the story or an emotional response has to be crafted by the artist, by hand, within inches of space. In many respects it's no different than creating a set design for a movie or the theatre, they need to feel natural, organic and give over more information about the story than the viewer is actually aware.
While you could look at Marc Giai-Miniet's and simply see the beauty in the multi-level library, crammed with row after row of books, lining the walls, colour creeping in as your eye descends down towards the dark bleakness of the soot stained basements, the meticulously designed dioramas hold a darker story within them.
There are piles of parcels, suitcases, files, some of the dioramas have laboratories hidden within their floors, others furnaces, mining tracks with bins to take things away and submarines for escape. It would be easy to imagine these were bunkers from some dystopian future, an archive of literature and information carefully curated by the dwellers who reside beneath the ground and who may or may not still be there. But Giai-Miniet's influence is partially drawn from his childhood and visiting his father while he worked as a mechanic in a garage, however there's undeniable link aesthetically to the the Holocaust, and how the Nazi's would seize and catalogue the personal belongings as people were were brought into concentration camps.
Giai-Miniet talks about his dioramas being a metaphor for the human condition.
“From the whiteness of books to the darkness of sewers, there is a never-ending to and fro between the two main poles of humanity: bestiality and transcendence, human fragility and inaccessible divinity.”
When I first looked at these, I just thought they were wonderfully weird cross sections of library-like bunkers that looked like something from the set of a movie or animation. A monochrome interior you might see in a Wes Anderson movie. However having read more about the hidden narrative, I'm actually even more impressed by the story that Giai-Miniet has managed to cram into these amazing dioramas.
Link || Marc Giai-Miniet || Website
Link || Marc Giai-Miniet by Christopher Jobson via This Is Colossal
Link || Mysterious Tiny Rooms by Marc Giai Miniet by Déspina Kortesidou via In Whirl of Inspiration
Link || Nostalgic Boxes by March Giai-Miniet by Elsa Mora via Artisaway
Link || French Artist Creates Realistic Miniature Labratories by Krista Peryer via Make: Community
Link || Marc Giai-Miniet's spectacularly chilling dollhouses inspired by concentration camps by Katy Cowan via Creative Boom
Link || Theatre of Memory exhibition by Marc Giai-Miniet via .ILOBOYOU
As a hobby, there is a great and long standing tradition in model making. People create lavish scenes for model trains to run, hand making elements while utilising the wide variety of model making materials that are available.
I've always been a little fascinated by the moss trees, static grass and little people and I walk past the materials in craft shops and am intrigued but have no idea what I would do with them.
Unlike Australia based artist and model maker Kendal Murray, who utilises these tiny figurines and traditional techniques to build tiny whimsical worlds, that captures a moment in those characters lives, but in a unique way.
By creating her tiny dioramas atop compact mirrors, old wooden shoe forms, purses or within the confines of a teapot, she transforms them into ponds, grass covered fields and hillsides, all shaded by lichen topped trees... I don't know why, but I've always loved these kinds of trees, and they bring realism into the scenes, as does the way she's applied static grass to undulating surfaces. Confining the dioramas to these objects not only brings form to the landscapes, but familiarity.
The figures add whimsy and silliness, but I like that. You need the scale and action of these tiny characters to help tell a story. Whether that's of people climbing rocks or a hillside, children playing or someone being chased by a goose, it's the combination of traditional craft, humour and curiosity that makes these really interesting and fun.
Link || Kendal Murray || Website || Instagram
Link || Miniature Figures Top Coin Purses, Makeup Compacts, and Teapots in Lush Narrative Scenes by Kendal Murray by Kate Sierzputowski via This Is Colossal
Link || Playful Miniature Sculptures Inspire Imaginative Narratives by Katie Hosmer via My Modern Met
Link || Miniature worlds by Kendal Murray on everyday objects by Mirko Humbert via Designer Daily
"There are three words in the English language, and three words only,
that begin with the letters DW [...] Can anyone name them for me please?"
("Mr. Willis of Ohio" || The West Wing || Season 1, Episode 6)
And these of all the dioramas and tiny dwellings I've written about, are probably my favourites and though I've probably said that before in this post - I know I have - there's something about the "Somewhere Small" series of treehouses created by prop designer and ceramicist Jedediah Corwyn Voltz, that I feel really drawn too.
These miniature treehouses nestled within the branches of house plants are simply and utterly delightful.
“Building miniatures for stop motion always leaves me with a huge bin of scrap balsa, basswood, various fabrics, etc. and I found myself making little fantasy constructions out of that stuff during my downtime. [...] Those little scrap forts led to me building some more serious ones in little diorama settings, and last year I built my first living treehouse. Since then, I’ve made almost 25 of them, from tiny watchtowers in secluded forests, to quiet treetop meditation platforms, to giant bustling windmills and waterwheels.” (Jedediah Corwyn Volt, Bored Panda, 2017)
There are definitely three plants I own that I would really, really like to do something like this around. Not that I don't love the plants on their own, but I love the whimsical joy that something akin to Voltz work would bring. Plus it's a creative challenge to building a treehouse out of the scraps of materials around the house. It'll be a fun way to while away a few hours.
Link || Jedediah Corwyn Voltz || Website || Instagram || Etsy
Link || Miniature Treehouse Sculptures Built Around Houseplants by Jedediah Voltz by Christopher Jobson via This Is Colossal
Link || Miniature Workshops Constructed Inside Ceramic Vessals by Jedediah Voltz by Kate Sierzputowski via This Is Colossalwith
Link || LA Prop Builder Designs Tiny Treehouses for Houseplants by Ana Lisa via Inhabitat
Link || Miniature Tree Houses For Houseplants Are Just Perfect For Fairies by Dainius via Bored Panda
...
So, when I started writing the bulk of this post I was going to mention how everyone was feeling better, getting over the cold. That is except for Charlie, who was being the definition of man flu in cat form, sneezing up a storm, being sad and stroppy and incredibly cute as he had sneezing fits. Which while it was funny - he's back to his sassy self again - it doesn't seem wonderfully appropriate now.
Neither does the fact that half of these miniatures revolve around dystopian, human-less environments, seeing shop shelves are becoming bare, people are panicking, and most of the world is in isolation trying to stem the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
I'm not going to say much about it, I think anyone who blogs or posts on social media needs to try and stay positive because their content is probably providing their viewers a source of distraction and hopefully comfort. So, while it will almost certainly come up, hopefully it can prove just as much of a distraction for them as their audience, whether it's the usual content, or random activities done while isolating yourself. Plus, hopefully that by chatting in the comments etc, it will help people stay positive.
I've been trying to stay level headed about everything, but it's hard not to get in your head and panic about what's going on at the moment, especially when day to day the information out there just compounds everyone's fears.
My point is, I hope that my posting this and repeatedly talking about death and dystopias doesn't offend anyone. Obviously that's not my intention and I had these posts at least sketched out before any of this started and even while I was writing this, things still weren't looking so bad. Please just take them as something beautiful and interesting to look at rather than somewhat inappropriate content.
Just stay safe, as cliched as it is to say that, I know I have family, old friends and maybe a few other people reading this periodically and I hope you're okay, and that you're able to keep your family and friends not only safe but sane throughout self-isolation, quarantine or illness. However long this goes on for... hopefully it's not as long as my 12 Days of Christmas.
Too soon? Look, just listen to people a hell of a lot smarter than me (ie: the NHS, WHO and the CDC) and try not to listen to the the fear-mongers. Wash your hands while singing whatever 20 second song helps you (I like "Truth Hurts" by Lizzo or The Beatles "Her Majesty" which is almost exactly 20 seconds long) and just try and stay as normal and positive as you can, especially if you're on your own. Find things to do, spring clean, start a project you've always planned too, finish ones that you've left idle, and if you feel like you're freaking out, call someone, whether it's family or a friend, even if it's just to talk nonsense and take your mind off of things. This is coming from a socially anxious hermit, so you know that's good advice!
Now, let's look to something nicer. Happy almost spring! Part eleven before spring has officially sprung...
... which is in two days, on March 20th...
..................................................................................
Listening: Little Boxes - Regina Spektor
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