Little Lost People

What was the last time you actually paid attention to the sidewalk?
Can the microcosm around our feet still hold some unexpected visions?
Does it still mean something to focus on small things and details, and to look down – beside avoiding stepping on something unpleasant?

Screen shot 2014-09-20 at 13.50.13

In a world where we are taught that everything, from skyscrapers to our own ambitions, should aim high, artists Slinkachu and Cordal – each their own way, each of them with a different and personal approach – seem to want to value all that is small, forgotten, invisible.
The works of these two street artists, who are both active, independently from one another, on the London scene, could be confused at a first glance: they both utilize tiny figurines, and install their provocative miniature sculptures inside the urban context, leaving them to their fate. But the similarities really stop there.

Slinkachu has an unmistakable satirical and sardonic vein, so much so that his installations are presented as snarky micro-stories; Slinkachu mini-men are mirrors, spoofs debunking our miseries, excesses and vanities. How intelligent, how civilized they must think they are – yet dimensions contradict their actions. Whether they believe they are criminals or superheroes, these microscopic little primates aren’t going anywhere.

Slinkachu_Tug of War_S

branded 1

Slinkachu_Bones 1_web

Slinkachu_Damn Kids_web

Balancing Act 1

All Alone 1

Their misadventures are evidently similar to ours, and the figurines sometimes even represent a pop and bizarre version of some of the most debated themes in the news.

Landscape-Painting-1_Artwork_LowRes72dpi

Slinkachu_Dying Embers_web

Slinkachu_Boys Own Adventures 1_web

Slinkachu_The Last Resort_web

Slinkachu_Goodbye Metropolis_E

Cordal’s little men, on the other hand, are the nightmare of removal coming back to the surface.
The atmosphere here is apocalyptic, melancholic, surreal, and in his works the miniature cannot be separated from the (often hopeless) landscape in which it has been positioned.
There is something touching and strangely eerie in this anonymous people emerging from the puddles in our cities, or sinking back into them “following the leaders”; there is a Beckett quality to these sad ghosts haunting our drainpipes, to these lost tourists, to these victims of the cruelty of a much too large and heavy world, and to their tiny bodies disappearing in the surrounding filth.

21449127631_f708d40f6f_b

15003876391_4bf56c528a_b

14450375150_8357aeba2f_b

15280921180_cd8c3587b4_b

13611410954_1534684274_b

14147943446_8a7edf9a53_b

5048333341_2c7e333f66_z

10880052793_c7b94d8145_b

10877086656_39f7a6ab09_b

What haunts us, in these figurines, is the fact we recognize them all too well. We can identify, and yet we cannot shake the embarassement of a vague guilt. The world is, after all, custom-made to be our size, not theirs.
The poor, the troubled, the outsiders inhabit realities that are too small, they live on a scale which is too distant for us to realize that we are stepping on them. Still, it would suffice to watch.

14656997113_0102a378c0_k

15271557185_c01009bea7_b

15810639620_b0a9035c7c_b

13911831924_9fb142ddb3_b

10576525505_34b53349cd_b

9421497501_9d691c273c_b

8059362840_b335fd202a_b

9412457693_e5daef4bdf_b

9389051089_f6b409f3ec_b

7153062625_7d83a75ee9_b

14388861461_c0bed34d26_b

Here are the official sites for Slinkachu, and for Isaac Cordal.

15 comments to Little Lost People

  1. mikimoz says:

    Slinkachu forse lo preferisco un po’ di più, più “pop”, anche se Cordal è più “tosto”.
    Grazie per questo post, ho scoperto un (micro)mondo 🙂

    Moz-

  2. Daniele says:

    Totalmente fuori di testa! Molto belli, pieni di sense of wonder. I primi, di Slinkachu, hanno un tocco di ironia – in certe foto, anche di comicità – mentre gli altri di Cordal ispirano più tristezza.

  3. Norma Gombok says:

    Conoscevo i lavori di entrambi gli artisti e li ho sempre trovati molto emozionanti ed interessanti. Se posso, vorrei segnalare che, nel mio piccolo, anch’io amo fotografare questi micromondi https://www.flickr.com/photos/regivar/albums/72157630497429558 e vorrei quindi approfittare per chiedere: ma secondo voi, perchè sono così interessanti questi piccoli mondi? Me lo sono chiesta tantevolte e non ho mai trovato una risposta esauriente, so solo che mi è sempre piaciuto immaginare di poter vedere la realtà, a volte gigantesca e a volte minuscola, con gli occhi di questi piccolini.

  4. SisKa says:

    Wow Norma!…. Big fan!

    ; )

    SisKa

  5. Manu says:

    Quelli di Slinkachu son carucci ma un pò troppo fumettistici,quelli di Cordal sono POESIA PURA !!!!

  6. Non ho ancora avuto l’occasione per lasciare un commento e ne ho approfittato oggi perché come al solito mi avete sorpreso con articoli nuovi ed interessanti! Complimenti per il sito, per le notizie e le recensioni sempre chiare e curiose, le immagini e fotografie meravigliose e che dire….. Continuate così!!!!

  7. Luisella says:

    Scopro ora questi due artisti, grazie a questo post. Alcune immagini sono davvero toccanti. Storie “piccole” e quindi così nostre. Meraviglia. Molti complimenti anche a Norma Gombok!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.