Life under glass.

My latest creative project has me returning to an acitivity I last dabbled in sometime in the 1970s.  Yes, even as a teen I expressed my fondness for all things tree-hugging with the creation of a terraium.  That plant-filled glass jar was a large, cork-stoppered blob that leaned decidedly toward "hippy."  It's a fond memory.

There's also a current art-world fascination with terrariums, the most high-profile of which are the recent alien-like terrariums created by artist Paula Hayes which were commissioned by MoMA for temporary placement in the lobby of the museum.  The installation, titled Nocturne of the Limax Maximus, featured two works: Slug and Egg. Here's an installation view:

Here's a detail of Slug:

And Here's a detail of Egg:

Hayes' terrariums with their hand-blown containers are spectacular.  You can see more at her Web site.

I don't have access to the amazing hand-blown containers found in Hayes' work.  But between her MoMA installation, my teenage nostalgia, and a few other terrarium trends I've seen here and there, I decided to try my hand at creating miniature worlds trapped in glass.  To add to the fun, I'm giving all my terrariums titles designed to compete for weirdness with the titles of Damien Hirst's works.   Here then, are a few of my first attempts at terrariums as art.

I call this Life in the Mind of Death:

This terrerium is titled The Nature of Infidelity:

Here is Exisiting in a Non-Existent Place:

Although Felix has named this plant "Chompers," the actual title of the work is Stealing Life from Loss and Sadness:

And here is The Universe as Seen from Heaven:

Finally, I'll leave you with an installation view from my dining room:

These first few worlds have been so much fun to make that I'm just getting starting.  So expect to see more terrariums in future posts.