Recently a reader alerted me to the miniature buildings of artist William Christenberry. I’ve been reading through whatever I can find on the internet about his work (for example, The J. Paul Getty Museum, some Google search results). There also appears to be a number of fine books out there, which I need to have a look at. His miniature buildings seem to be an interesting combination of high brow and folk art, and appear to come from the same sensibility that has at times motivated folk artists in the miniature building genre. I like this statement attributed to him:
I don’t want my work thought about in terms of nostalgia. It is about place and sense of place. I only make pictures when I go home. I am not looking back longing for the past, but at the beauty of time and the passage of time.
I need to learn more.
I understand why you're attracted to his work. Please share more if it looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteYou know, it seems like the magazines give some nice layout tours but what I really miss is the ELM single-structure articles. More often now, they may show some crazy complete industry to model, tailored to fit that person's space, in some article that you know you'll never build. Used to be, whether is was ELM or a number of other great authors (even Art Curren with his attractive kitbashes), you could get excited with anticipation of building your own version. Even if it wasn't right away, you'd either bookmark the article or make photocopies for an upcoming project.
Even the layout articles have become cookie-cutter formula writing AGAIN. I mean, they tried to get away from that years ago when they started putting a list of the construction techniques, brands of track, min. radius, etc. along side the track plan. But the authors still find a way to sound totally bland in their text descriptions. Sure, they'll make an occasional sidebar "how to", but when it comes to interesting stories about construction, what-I-did-wrong-at-first, how-I-overcame-obstacles, funny-thing-about-this stories, they shy away and say, "Don't ask me how I know" or "It's best left unsaid". No, that's what makes articles interesting!
So even when ELM totally made up some story, he'd make it interesting. And if you're not gifted enough with fiction like he was, there had to be some tellable stories along the way. Ask me about any project I've built and I'll ramble on and on and try my best to pass along something useful or funny.
Unlike this rant. LOL Well, got that off my chest.
Paul
I agree that modern stories seem formulaic. Some random points regarding articles on buildings:
Delete- The trend seems to be to narrowly focus on how-to instructions, with maybe some prototype information included. Having a fuller story like you've described seems to be considered adding 'fluff'. I don't think the stories are complete or interesting without the 'fluff'.
- I think ELM has referred to creating fuller - 'fluffier' - articles as 'including a recipe for rhubarb pie'
- Remember Bunn's Feed & Seed? ELM had a fictional story built into his article in his original manuscript - search this blog for it - but it was removed by the editor in the published version.
- As I put together the Miniature Building Construction in the 20th Century reading list I find that as we get later into the century, into the Eighties and Nineties, the articles become more focused on prototype replication. I have mixed feelings about that trend. It's good to see techniques advancing, but the articles are moving towards being like something found in an engineering or historical journal. Maybe that's what the target market wants. I like to see a mix of stories, some tightly focused, some not so much.
- I recall seeing a couple of years ago in the manuscript guidelines for one of the magazines an explicit instruction that fiction could not be included. And another had statements that anything about hobos was out too. If applied to stuff from yesteryear, some of that old stuff could never be published today. Both of these restrictions no longer appear, but I don't know if they are applied.
- Vince gave me an interesting idea for an new ELM style building that I thought I'd try to flesh out and bounce off one of the magazines, but my previous attempts at that sort of thing have met with stony silence. Related: I had a forum moderator once mention to me that not pursuing the path of complete prototype replication was less than worthy and I was blocked from joining.
I enjoyed your 'rant'. Mine above is the ranting of an insomniac, and I think I might return to this topic again on the weekend during daylight hours when I've tanked up on some coffee. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
A couple of other things come to mind now that I'm waking up.
Delete- I like the articles of George Allen and Ernie Huebner that appeared in the '40s and '50s. I'm talking about these series: 50,000 Spikes, and Tuxedo Junction. The first got cut short because George Allen got drafted and went to do his duty in WWII before finishing. The second got off to a great start, but near the end of the (I think) 23 or 24 monthly instalments it seemed to lose it's unique flavour. But, overall, excellent stuff.
- Blogs are great things because they let you try things out that can't be done in magazines or forums. I know blogs aren't cool anymore because influencer culture has taken their place in the sun, but there's still plenty of good ones out there, and, let me repeat, you can play around with them and don't have to be restricted by the conventions of other media. And influencers are just trying to influence you to buy stuff.
What I'm asking for is stories with personality. ELM had that in spades. The last project article I read with personality was years ago when a guy wrote about how building his layout brought him closer to his dad. That could get too mushy, but in his case, it wasn't. There's so much you could put into an article; I'm sure careful editors remove all the uselessly interesting parts.
ReplyDeleteAs to the model at the start of this post, that would stop me in my tracks and I'd enjoy reading about it. What I think sets it apart is that, while it's technically 4 walls and a roof, it's got several different roof angles and the siding and the weathering make it stand out even before it's placed into a scene.
I agree, it's striking. My cursory reading suggests that it's one of Mr. Christenberry's more famous models. I need to dig a bit more to find out the whole story.
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