The tiny worlds of "micro-mechanician" Bill Robertson

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/23/the-tiny-worlds-of-micro-mec.html

5 Likes

image

3 Likes

Wow, these are pretty A level miniatures.

2 Likes

Those poor puppies!

1 Like

This man’s work is incredible . But, he better stay out of Canada; melting down a Canadian coin? That’s a federal offence, Sir! Good God I hope it wasn’t a “Maple”

2 Likes

He’s bigger than I had imagined.

3 Likes

Wow, amazing stuff! I think some of what he describes about the appeal of small objects and environments you can see all at once is what attracts people (incl. moi) to Animal Crossing, and many other sim-type games. It is nice to have a cute little toy domain to control!

1 Like

I remember loving Queen Mary’s doll’s house when young. I still remember the tiny pen-knives that opened. But this is something else. This reminded me of the passage in Flan O’Brian’s “The Third Policeman” where the writer watches with fascination as someone opens a box to bring out a small, but equally detailed box, and then with mounting horror as he continues to produce boxes that are barely visible…

I am not a ham-fisted guy. I understand detail. My PhD involved sticking 20 wires per millimetre to measure voltages on a superconductor. I love electron microscopes. But there is something about the architect’s studio that says This Cannot Exist And You Know It.

Does anyone else get this?

4 Likes

Yeah, the models themselves are appealing but the idea of the process itself is vaguely unsettling (which is not necessarily a criticism). I’m also someone who enjoys making wee things – making scale models is an occasional part of my job – but there’s a kind of poignancy to it, beyond a certain point, because you’re pouring so much energy into this tiny world that can never quite be occupied.

It makes me think of a project at school where I made a model of the Tent Room from the Charlottenhof palace for a photo shoot. I liked it a lot, but after working on it for a week or more, and the model and lighting and workspaces taking over a whole room in the real world, it was hard not to also think “…but why?”. After the photos were taken, the only option was to pitch the whole thing directly into a dumpster, so overall, it felt like some medieval self-flagellation exercise. I’m still not sure if the tutors were making a subtle point with that assignment.

BTW here is the model; people might as well see it.

6 Likes

I’ve been to Charlottenhof, that’s a very good model.
Why specifically the tent room, though?

I kinda expected him to talk faster

You think it took more than one!?!

This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.