A look at the dioramas of apocalypse

2016-06-29T12:54:00-04:00

Their ongoing series -- titled "The City" -- imagines a parallel universe where humankind is extinct and nature has already started to reclaim the concrete jungle. Think of it as a journey through apocalyptic architecture.

Commercial diorama makers Kathleen Gerber and Lori Nix's dystopian art project, "The City," is a miniature labor of love. Each diorama takes about 7 to 15 months to build, primarily because of the intricate level of detail contained within each scene. Check out this post-apocalyptic casino, replete with distressed slot machines and chintzy carpet:

Or this bombed-out circulation desk scene with half-opened card catalog drawers (a physical object filled with index cards that people used to look up library materials before computer searches):

Meanwhile, this subway scene features a decayed downtown, glimpsed through the permanently agape doors:

What's the latest in innovative model-making?

Microeconomics: A City in Miniature

2013-10-13T17:32:00-04:00

"It became a way of documenting the processes of gentrification and urban renewal...I’ll go to Flatbush Avenue and walk from Prospect Park out to the end, because that’s what Manhattan used to be" - Randy Hage

John Leland highlights the work of Randy Hage, who takes photographs of New York storefronts and then makes mixed-media, sculptural scale models of the storefronts he photographed. His work can be seen in the exhibition 'Fleeting Moments' currently on view at the Flower Pepper Gallery in Pasadena, Calif., from Oct. 5 to Nov. 15.

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A look at the dioramas of apocalypse

Microeconomics: A City in Miniature