Little people in the city: the street art of Slinkachu

Little People in the City is a slight but thoroughly entertaining work, and for someone like me with no previous exposure to Slinkachu's work, something of a revelation. These carefully composed street scenes of tiny models going about their everyday lives in the midst of busy, full-scale modern urban areas are fun, thought-provoking and a little frightening at the same time. Slinkachu has captured a small piece of zen in the midst of hectic city life, and his photographs encourage the reader to see something new in the (often) bland landscape of city life.

A series of photographs of miniature hand-painted figures, posed in various locations in London and Manchester.

Each artwork is presented in a close-up shot showing the details of the scene, along with a more zoomed-out view showing the work in its surroundings. Most of the scenes depicted are mundane vignettes of urban life: a man reading the paper on a subway, a mother with a young child visiting a gravestone. Only a few — like the bee-hunt depicted on the cover — hint at more exotic aspects of the "little people's" lives.

In general, the book leaves it up to the viewer whether they want to simply enjoy the intrinsic charm of the images or look for deeper artistic and social commentary. The use of miniatures is a clever way of show more highlighting the concept of differing viewpoints, which allows for many layers of meaning and interpretation around these tiny artworks.

All in all, a fun little book. show less

The little people project, is a set of site-specific mini works that the artist has scattered through the streets of the world with the aim of raising public awareness on two different fronts: the estrangement that we feel in large cities and the pollution with which we now live.
Its microcosms represent situations of the real world from a different point of view, underlining both our inability to realize what surrounds us, but also the little interest we have in finding intelligent solutions to problems that, day after day, become increasingly important.

Yay! Heard of Slinkachu a year or two ago on German TV, in a short piece about his work. Wrote down his name on a piece of paper and always meant to find out more about him. This week, when I was at the Tate Modern, I spotted this book. I got The Stare from the book store clerk, because I was blocking the cash desk, reading (hey, why do you put the interesting stuff right next to the cashing machine then?).
Spent an evening leafing back and forth through the book, even my little niece had a look (but at 3, she doesn't "get" the "overview" pictures, just the scenes themselves). I spared her the cover pic of the shot bumble bee though.

I think I'll never look at a crack in the pavement with the same eyes again (a tiny road worker cannot be show more far away, can he?) show less

A series of exquisite, wryly amusing miniature photographic tableaux. Slinkachu is a bit of a one trick pony but it's a great trick.

Little People in the City brings together the collected photographs of Slinkachu, a street-artist who for several years has been leaving little hand-painted people in the bustling city to fend for themselves, waiting to be discovered. . .

This was something I had heard of, via a TV report.. it caught my interest then, so I was keen to take a look at the book. It certainly doesn’t disappoint, offering a varied selection of his little people. Each one is shown close up, then in it’s surroundings, so you get an idea of both.

I think finding one of these little creations ‘in the flesh’ would be would be fascinating, but this book is certainly the next best thing. It should appeal to many people - those interested in the art form will show more enjoy studying this selection in detail, and it’s also a good ‘coffee table book’, which people will want to pick up and discuss. It’s hardback format also makes it a good gift idea. show less

Can't compare it to anything.