Bigger is better, unless you’re Slinkachu. The UK-based artist (previously posted on our Tumblr here) started placing his tiny figures around London back in 2006. Slinkachu sources these from a company that supplies model train products, and vintage 1960s toys, which he embellishes for his own purposes. He’s a big fan of artist Chris Ware, whose works also tend to use a vivid color palette and are full of meticulous detail. When we say tiny, we mean barely a centimeter high. Slinkachu has to use a magnifying glass to add details to his little people. If it wasn’t for his compelling photo series, they would be left completely undiscovered to passersby. He has photographed these humorous, miniature scenes all over the world in places like Cape Town, Doha, Berlin, and New York, to name a few. During the course of documenting his work, Slinkachu began to question: Just what happens to art that’s been abandoned on the street?
“Alpining”, six months later.
Rather than suffering defacement, Slinkachu noticed that nature began to take its course. In the case of his Fullham, London street installation “Alpining”, Slinkachu found that the artworks last quite a while. However, overtime, birds who are attracted to bright colors for their nests would ‘steal’ the figures, or the color mood would darken due to exposure, completely changing the dynamic. In the world of tiny street art, the work takes on a ‘life’ of its own. Slinkachu’s characters reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city- and over time, become more lost than before.
Can you spot Slinkachu’s latest work?:
