slinkachu.

Give in to the simple pleasures of Slinkachu – a maestro of miniature worlds featuring slain bubble bees, monster-sized snacks and cigarette carton caves. If you’ve ever wondered what life feels like as the star of MicroCosmos (without actually having to sit through eighty minutes of a non-verbal French-new-wave-nature-documentary) then Slinkachu is for you.

The 'Little People Project' started in 2006 and involved “the remodeling and painting of miniature model train set characters” which Slinkachu then placed, photographed, and left on the street. Part installation, part photography project, the micro-scenes see cheese puffs transform into titanic tangerine boulders, bottle caps become sexy hot tubs. By shooting these miniature sets both in close up and at a distance, Slinkachu offers satisfying perspective on just how different the word looks from down low. The real questions is - how would you feel if you actually came across one of these? Confused? Amused? Hysterically over-excited? In Slinkachu’s own words:

"The scenes I set up, more evident through the photography and the titles I give these scenes aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour. I want people to be able to empathise with the tiny people in my works."

Immediate, gratifying, giggle-worthly.

More works, publications and exhibition news here. 

barack obama by terry richardson.

 

Obama's a winner. But is he also, now, a hipster? Aww, who cares.

Terry Richardson shoots the President in his studio post-election victory, 7th November 2012.

More here.

ryan dunn.

With high-impact collage, a clever marriage of improbability and style makes all the difference. 

The desired effect is, most often, an incongruous soup of delight, bewilderment, awe, agitation, alarm, and/or queasiness. 

British artist Ryan Dunn does just this, but he does something else as well. Much of his work plays as skilfully off the empty space as it does the space he fills. The effect is that of quietude, collages as enigmatic as the photographs in an old atlas, as a view out to sea on a foggy day. 

He’s also damn funny. The louder elements of his portfolio are an equally accomplished batch of dada-esque absurdities, exactly the sort of arrangements that enthrall whilst holding firmly to the realm of the weird. So viscerally playful are these disjointed pairings that it’s almost impossible not to feel the waistband tightening around your temples, the chameleon in your mouth, the dog’s nose between your legs. Shudder. 

Beyond this kind of excellent stuff, Dunn also dabbles in industrial design, creating works as devilishly ludicrous as the "Bench Chair" (in which "the individual is permitted to enjoy the functional benefits of a chair and the emotional or territorial benefits of a bench"), among various other "chair subversions". 

 I won't give away much more then that. 

More from Ryan Dunn on his website Inane Systems, here.

ai weiwei: the new statesman guest edit.

Ai Weiwei guest edits the New Statesman - out today! Brimming with beautiful new artwork and thoroughly thought provoking articles on everything from China's abysmal manipulation of the media (truly, you won't believe it when you hear about the "50 cent party"), to music, to film, to food, to twitter, to Chen Guangcheng "the blind dissident" and the one-child policy, it's all there. Ai's  calling it "the China the censors don't want you to see". 

Plenty to see on the website today. Go go go! 

tim walker.

Tim Walker's photography for Italian Vogue last January. Flippin' freaky. Freakin' fantastic!

Tim's got a show coming up next week at the Somerset House - Tim Walker: Story Teller. Do attend...

Much much more of Walker's phantasmic fashion photography on his website here. 

maja daniels: monette & mady

I'm completely taken with this series at the moment. Swedish photographer Maja Daniels happened across Monette and Mady on a street in Paris. Turns out the two identical twins have lived inseparable lives: wearing identical clothes, eating identical portions of food, remaining unmarried, ceasing to celebrate their birthdays.

Daniels followed the pair around the city she calls their "stage", capturing moments of natural and concocted happenstance in this set of dreamy, half-imaginary photographs. Wonderful wonderful.

Read more on Maja's website here. It's Nice That have also done a beautiful interview with the artist here.