These eggs show some apparently miniature chicks in the process of bursting through their shells: They thus represent the transition from purely abstract, as the eggs in my last post, to cute. I’m not sure exactly why, but they even seem to be smiling–very optimistic and upbeat as they enter their new world, wings flappingContinue reading “The Moment of Birth (Ab Ovo)”
Category Archives: A Utopian World
The News Is a Woman
In the miniverse of salt and pepper shakers, almost everything is either humanized or genderized or both. Most of the apples and bunnies and fire hydrants and yachts have been given some sort of human characteristic–human eyes or mouths or human smiles on non-human mouths. And apparently objects can’t be represented as somehow human withoutContinue reading “The News Is a Woman”
Shaker. Sculpture. Shaker Sculpture.
In my last post, after discussing the unsettling disproportion of a shaker set that contains a human figure accompanied by some relatively giant shakers (or perhaps, some normal-sized shakers accompanied by a decidedly tiny human figure, I promised to talk about another set I have that consists of the usual shaker-sized miniature human figure and aContinue reading “Shaker. Sculpture. Shaker Sculpture.”
Food, Fictional and Non-Fictional
Thinking as I wrote my last post about how disturbing it was to look at versions of the exact same characters in different poses in two different salt and pepper shaker sets, about how the impression that they could move and take different positions seemed to suggest a life they were leading outside and beyondContinue reading “Food, Fictional and Non-Fictional”
Shit, Kitsch, and Other Things that Stink
In my last post, I suggested that one of the actions scripted by novelty salt and pepper shakers is conversing about them as artistic objects: the invitation to “observe them more closely–perhaps in something like the way we look at paintings or other art objects, with an eye to understanding both what they represent andContinue reading “Shit, Kitsch, and Other Things that Stink”
Scriptive Novelty: A Pair of Bears
And now, on to what scriptive attitudes and actions might be implied by having a set of novelty salt and pepper shakers on the table. Just so that there’ll be something specific to refer to, I offer what I take to be a pretty basic and therefore really rather uninteresting example of the kind ofContinue reading “Scriptive Novelty: A Pair of Bears”
Miniature, Lifelike and Dead
This is a nester and a go-with, both at once. Not only is it a slice of toast to go with a toaster, but the slice of toast nests into the toaster: After that, though, I really have nothing much to say about it. It’s cute of course, in the way that miniature versions of thingsContinue reading “Miniature, Lifelike and Dead”
Bubble Barf?
This is a nester:It represents a young woman in a cocktail glass–either a very tiny young woman or a very huge cocktail glass. Or wait, maybe it’s not actually meant to be a cocktail glass, but just in the shape of one–for few cocktail glasses are opaque mauve with white dots. So maybe it’s justContinue reading “Bubble Barf?”
E.T., Go Home
This is another example of a stacker (or nester). As two separate pieces it represents a somewhat odd couple brought together, it seems, by their shared connection to outer space: One is some kind of one-eyed alien or ET; the other appears to be an astronaut in a G-suit. Neither appears to be happy, the reasonContinue reading “E.T., Go Home”
Accurate Souvenirs
Unlike the Banffian lions and chuck wagons of my last post, this pair actually has something to do with the place it claims to represent:It is, in fact, a salt-and-pepper version of the Portage La prairie, Manitoba city hall. The city hall has been divided into two parts, one for salt, one for pepper, likeContinue reading “Accurate Souvenirs”
Perry Nodelman 