I then came across a beautiful model of a destroyed library. I decided to look into the work more and found artist duo, Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber (Nix & Gerber) they create large scale dioramas of unsettling scenes – post apocalyptic worlds. After they build the models, they then photograph them, making them look like real-world locations. This is something I would like to create for my photographs – beautiful, life-like models that can be difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is fake.
The models they create are highly detailed and one diorama can take up to seven months to create and each model is simply made from cardboard, glue and foam, this allows them to deconstruct some models and reuse the materials for new creations.
They are influenced by the world around them and what it may hold and are interested in depicting danger and disaster, but temper this with a touch of humour. The landscapes they create do show danger and disaster, and some of their models do have a touch of humour, this makes the models very interesting to look at, as no part is left untouched. It shows that there was once life there and it makes you wonder who used to live there and who the possessions belonged to.
I want to create the same feeling – the hauntological presence of who may have been there, the eeriness of a world that once was alive and thriving in the way we know but is now alive and thriving in a new way. New life given and nature takes back its own world.
“I am afraid of what the future holds if we do not change our ways regarding the climate, but I am also fascinated by what a changing world can bring,” Nix told Colossal. “I think this is part of why we make the work we do, to try to reconcile these different attitudes.”
“Empire presents a world transformed by climate uncertainty and a shifting social order as it stumbles towards a new kind of frontier,” the pair explain in a statement. “These places are eerily beautiful but also unsettling in their stillness and silence. Long ago, man entered the landscape and forced nature to his will. Once grand and emblematic of strength and prosperity, these landscapes now appear abused and in decay, and it is uncertain how they will continue to (d)evolve.”