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Hi, Art!

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Hi, Art!

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Hi, art lovers!

 
 
Close-up photo of a pink chest of drawers. One drawer is open revealing row upon row of figurines. The figures are made of clay and depict identical factory workers at sewing machines.

(Mike Patten/Gardiner Museum)

 

“People LOVE miniatures.”

I got that text from an excited colleague late last week. He’d just checked Instagram, and something we’d posted to the CBC Arts account was prompting more exploding-head emojis than usual. What was the fuss about? A quick video from the Karine Giboulo exhibition that’s on right now in Toronto. The show’s called Housewarming, and the gist is this: Karine’s taken over the third floor of the Gardiner Museum to create a stripped-down version of her Montreal two-bedroom. And she’s filled the space with satirical dioramas — scenes that involve more than 500 miniatures she sculpted by hand. 

Yep, people LOVE miniatures. And in turn, CBC sure loves covering the people who make them. A quick think reminded me of all these past stories: articles about artists (in Alberta and Nova Scotia) who make tiny movie sets; profiles of folks who build tiny replicas of their favourite places in Toronto and Saint John. We’ve met artists who build tiny crime scenes, tiny tree houses, tiny traditional Mi’kmaw baskets and tiny (functioning) kitchens where they cook tiny meals. I don’t think any of those stories spend much time pondering why we enjoy acting like a bunch of peeping Toms from Brobdingnag, but earlier this year, when Best in Miniature (a reality show about miniature artists) debuted on CBC Gem, I spoke with some folks on the other side of the equation. Why do people make minis? The cost of living is a major contributing factor. Having the home of your dreams is a lot easier if you build it in 1:12 scale. Here’s a more recent story with its own theory on the trend. And if you’re not patient enough to craft your own itsy-bitsy Eames chair, did you realize a growing number of designers are releasing shrunken replicas of their furniture — or that there’s an “art world version of a dollhouse"?

 

And because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Photo of a white walled gallery. Four large sculptures are installed on a low white plinth. They depict almost cartoonish insects and flowers that emerge from grey and crumbling cities of significantly smaller size.

Jude Griebel

Jude Griebel is a Canadian artist who loves a diorama (something we’ve talked about before) and he has two exhibitions on right now. Next World Emissaries (pictured) is at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge, Alta., and Broken Pattern is at Eltuek Arts Centre in Sydney, N.S. 

 
Photo of an illuminated strip mall video rental store, shot in complete darkness. The interior lights reveal shelf upon shelf of vhs tapes. A glowing sign above the door reads:

Marina Totino

Montreal’s Marina Totino is a miniaturist who’s big on nostalgia.
 
Flat lay photo on a black backdrop. Depicts a dense assemblage of tiny plastic toys and playing cards.

Office of Collecting & Design

Did you know there’s an entire museum of tiny objects in Las Vegas? And that visitors can play with its collection to create pretty flat-lay photos like this one? It’s called the Office of Collecting & Design and it’s run by artist and filmmaker Jessica Oreck.
 
Medium closeup of the inside of a vending machine. The machine is stocked with plastic wrapped notebooks, cards, prints, stickers, pins and other small artist-made items.

Vancouver Vending Co.

The Vancouver Vending Co. vending machine sells “snack-sized” art by locals. According to Instagram, they’ve recently restocked and you can find the pop-up project at 1055 Dunsmuir St.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Photo of a round white kitchen table. On the surface are various objects: an open laptop, coffee mug, bowl of fruit, plate of banana peanut-butter toast. Small figurines also appear on the table. One, a tiny person in pj's, appears to fall backwards into a swirling void depicted on the laptop screen. Two other mini figures are dressed in hazmat suits and spray the bowl of fruit with vapour, depicted through puffs of fluff.
Toni Hafkenscheid/Gardiner Museum

This artist recreated her Montreal apartment with more than 500 miniatures

 
There’s tiny art hiding in the drawers, the fridge … even the couch. Take a tour of Housewarming, a new exhibition at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto.
 
Daytime photo on a snow-covered mountainside. Two men in winter gear stand knee-deep in snow. One peers through a film camera.
Little Dipper Films

The true Hollywood North

 
There’s a growing film scene in Canada’s Arctic. Says Whitehorse filmmaker Max Fraser: “In this business, it all comes down to story, and we’ve got many to tell [up here].”
 
Still from the AMC series Interview with the Vampire. A young girl with dark kshoulder-length curls bares her vampire fangs. Blood covers her face and the front of her white lacy dress.

AMC

 

The monsters they made us

 
Columnist Alicia Elliott writes about Ginger Snaps, the new Interview with the Vampire series, and how the horror genre positions young female desire.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Xiaojing Yan

@xiaojing.yan.studio
Photo of an art installation in a black-walled room. Countless strands of thread strung with small pears are hung from the ceiling to create the illusion of a floating and swirling white cloud.

Xiaojing Yan

Xiaojing was featured in last week’s newsletter, but the work she makes with live mushrooms is just one teeny-tiny facet of her art practice. There’s so much gorgeous work to explore on her Instagram. This photo? It’s of Spirit Cloud, a 2017 piece that's made out of more than 33,000 freshwater pearls.
 

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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time!

 
XOXO CBC Arts
XOXO CBC Arts
 
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