Miniature Worlds

Abstract

Following Nelson Goodman’s concept of “world making” I consider miniatures as a specific way of materializing aspects or interpretations of “world”. The miniatures I chose are neither childrens’ toys nor simple replicas of existing things but materialized versions of specific views, ideas and interpretations. Implicitly, each creates its own aesthetics of the miniature. The examples I discuss are the Arnstädter Puppenstadt “Mon Plaisir”, an entire town as well as the castle’s main rooms built in the early 18^th century by an aristocratic widow; an 18^th-century-paper album presenting the city of Augsburg and the interior of a wealthy home which could be furnished with paper cut-outs; and, finally, the apocalyptic miniature dioramas built and photographed by Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber (21^st century).