Last week, we hosted a diorama workshop with the kids in Pankow, challenging them to create their own mini universes out of shoe boxes, using everyday objects in new and inventive ways. So, it seems fitting to dedicate this week's 'Artist of the Week' post to diorama master, Tanaka Tatsuya.

“Broccoli and parsley might sometimes look like a forest, or the tree leaves floating on the surface of the water might sometimes look like little boats. I wanted to take this way of thinking and express it through photographs, so I started to put together a MINIATURE CALENDAR." - Tanaka Tatsuya, in an interview with Spoon-Tamago

Tanaka Tatsuya's words capture the essence of diorama, and why it is one of the most exciting, playful, and accessible forms of art. You don't need special materials, or equipment, you just need your imagination!

Using everyday objects to create miniature compositions, diorama bridges the gap between the artistic world, and the human world. Frequently using urban and man-made items in ingenuous ways, diorama plays with our perceptions and pokes at our brains, making us consider our reality from a different perspective, and see conventional objects in unconventional ways.

In a long and ambitious project, named 'Miniature Calendar', Tanaka Tatsuya has produced and posted an original diorama image every day to his Instagram feed, for the last four years, creating "delight-inducing scenarios", each one as playful and imaginative as the next. Here are some of our faves:

SECRET BASE

HOT DOG

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POTATO DESERT

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LETTUCE BALLOON

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MINIATURE "CAR" LIFE

SUN BALLOON

** We hope you enjoyed our latest edition of AOTW. Don't forget to 'like' this post, and share on social media! **