Feb 26 2011

BoxWorld

BoxWorld is a spectacular miniature city made almost entirely from recycled materials. 

It was created by Tasmanian model maker and environmentalist, Warren Thomas, and has been over twelve years in the making. It is ‘on tour’, and until March 12th it is installed at the Lismore Regional Art Gallery. We took the opportunity to visit BoxWorld today.

Thomas was originally inspired to create BoxWorld after a visit to a travelling display by Lego Land. Unable to afford or justify the use of plastic Lego blocks, Thomas started using milk cartons and cereal boxes for his display instead. Thomas is a firm believer in the three Rs: Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle. BoxWorld is the antithesis of glistening commercialism, which lures us to spend money beyond our means. It transforms everyday waste into something intriguing and is made of materials which are mostly free.

After coming up with the idea for BoxWorld, Thomas was drawn into the process of making it and the model grew. A city emerged organically, building by building, street by street. The installation is not based on any real city, but it includes elements found in most cities such as skyscrapers, a football ground, swimming pool, airport, hospital and various shops, factories, roads and traffic.

Only a subset of the full ‘BoxWorld’ is on display in the Lismore Gallery. In its entirety, it would cover a whole tennis court.

Entry to the gallery in Lismore is free.

Will thought that the BoxWorld display was amazing. “You have to admire the perseverance of the artist”

Millie thought it was cool. “I wish I could shrink so that I could visit the city”.

After Lismore, it is off to Warwick and then Geelong. You can check out more information at the BoxWorld site.

While on the subject of Minature Worlds, there is a photographic technique called ‘TiltShift’ that makes photos of real cities look like they are photos of minature worlds.

There are a couple of iPhone apps that can do this semi-automatically. If you are interested, have a look at TiltShift by Michael Krause

 

 

One Response to “BoxWorld”

1. allan munsami says:

   January 28, 2020 at 4:25 pm

   Hi been inspired to try this out with my design class
   for recycling project.
   maybe incorporate urban planning thinking

   Reply