Staying in is the new out.
It’s no great revelation that more people are staying home these days. Vacations are being postponed in favor of staycations, usually involving some sort of local sightseeing, camping out in the backyard . . . or just watching Rick Steves on TV.
One artist’s work inadvertently made me think of this trend: the pictorial dioramas of Stephanie Syjuco. Of course, her works are about concerns other than being unable to take a vacation. She is exploring ideas related to her identity, to the notion of home, to appropriation in general. But that’s what’s great about art–it evokes varying things for different people.
I am a huge fan of dioramas in general–anything, really, that reproduces things in miniature. I’ve recently taken up mini gardening, which is sort of like creating a diorama in a pot.
I have friends who are big into model railroading, and I love adding weird little characters that I find in antiques stores into their hyper-realistic layouts. Probably the ultimate diorama is the doll house, really. Reproducing reality mixed with the imaginary is clearly a tendency (or hobby or obsession, whatever you want to call it) inherent in human nature. it’s a fascinating way to (re)view the world, regardless of your reasons for wanting to do so.
Maybe this discussion will prompt a diorama-making vacation this year . . . just imagine the possibilities.
{ M.E.W. }
April 30th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Totally! Stephanie Syjuco reminds me of these artists who make incredible vignettes in snow globes:
http://www.martin-munoz.com/recent/index.html