A tiny man frustrated with his life intends to throw a red lego brick down the bridge onto one of the massive cars passing by. A little girl in a bright blue bikini taking a dive into the pool of yellow, from a molten popsicle – these finely crafted, smaller than life pieces together make an intriguing series called ‘The Little People Project’ , brought to life by the London based Artist and Photographer, Stuart Pantoll; popularly known as Slinkachu.
Strategically made and located, if you find a thumb sized model of a man fishing in his boat made out of a bottle cap staring at you from the other side of the road, don’t be surprised; It’s purely the redefinition of urban art in form of storytelling. A story told by train set models painted in high gloss acrylic paint coupled with props, which could vary from a bottle cap as a canoe to an orange peel serving as a the rocky terrain of the moon, it might even be a dead insect as a cart.
All these props and miniature figures are combined with painting, clay modelling and wire art to build the real scene as per the theme thought of. The entire process of narrating the story is given result with the help of high quality photographs of the miniature models placed at different nooks and crannies of the city – it could even be a garbage bin or the steps to a subway, with a puddle of water and the raindrops falling by.
The story is not what the artist really wants to talk about, he is more interested in the perception of the viewer on seeing his art. It is something which doesn’t have a defined backdrop, at it changes with the perspective from which it is viewed. Slinkachu ends up leaving his marvelous pieces of art just as they were placed in the hope of being discovered by one of those many people who take a few moments to stop and observe. Art can be appreciated truly only when it is seen raw, in it’s true nature.
Slinkachu has not only carved a new edge in the vast world of urban art which usually has Grafitti as a big part of it, but he has also succeeded in lighting up the spark of creativity in those souls which restrict themselves to their busy city life.
When asked about his thought behind this unique concept of crafting and photographing miniature tableaux, this is what the artist had to say in one of his recent interviews
Think about what sort of story you want to tell. I like to think about how we respond to the urban environment, and how the city can be a difficult, lonely place to live. You’ll find inspiration everywhere: it could be from a piece of litter, an architectural feature or a weed. I love playing with scale and imagining how an object would look to a tiny person. A hole in the wall could be a cave, or a puddle could be a lake. Scout locations and keep a sketchbook full of ideas. A lot of it is play – a chance to re-imagine the world around you.
To an untold story which is captured in the moment when it is viewed and is given a meaning by those who view it, Slinkachu has certainly rejuvenated our creative side with another detailed style of urban art. His works can be found on his twitter handle and facebook page as well.
