My OBT

What if you spent every day looking for One Beautiful Thing?

Urban Decay

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Joshua Smith

I’m a native New Yorker, so maybe that’s why I see beauty in my city and in most cities, even in the most downtrodden neighborhoods. Today’s artist, miniaturist Joshua Smith, sees it, too. His wonderful, run-down 1:20 scale storefronts have been making quite a stir lately. Even director/actor Kevin Smith (no relation to this Smith) purchased the greyscale city block inspired by his movie Clerks!

While Smith is fairly well traveled, until his work began to take off a couple of years ago, he had to rely on the internet for his location explorations. He spent hours at a time in his home in Adelaide, South Australia, using Google Street View to check out urban areas all over the world, then recreating his favorites.

“Most of the buildings I create, I don’t see them [in real life] until after I’ve built them.”

I find all of his storefront sculptures yummy, but it’s his tiny details that really make my mouth water. I’d love to own one of those mailboxes!

You can follow Joshua Smith on his website, and on Facebook and Instagram.

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I have some very exciting news to announce! I can now reveal that my greyscale miniature of the Quickstop groceries miniature was purchased by noneother than Silent Bob himself, writer, director, producer and actor @thatkevinsmith The miniature will still be on display at Gallery1988 in LA opening later this week. To any of my LA followers if you can please head along to the opening at Gallery1988. Was incredibly excited to hear this news which still seems surreal! Also for anyone interested I still have 1 of my 2 miniatures for sale through @beinartgallery in Melbourne Both exhibitions will be open until Christmas. #miniature #urbandecay #abandoned #urbex #abando #shopfront #facade #scalemodel #scratchbuilt #iknowjoshuasmith #joshuasmithminiature #dollhouse #kevinsmith #clerks #jayandsilentbob #gallery1988 #la #losangeles

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A few snapshots from my very first miniature building from a few years ago now. This was originally created for an exhibition at the @thestockroomgallery in Melbourne now it is available for sale at @murielguepingallery in NYC. I'm hoping to create more miniature buildings with working lights and interiors this year as well as interactive elements. Any suggestions on what to build this year? I've got hundreds of ones I want to build but always on the hunt for more! Also Adelaide followers don't forget I'm doing a scavenger hunt this afternoon at 3:30pm in Chinatown. Be sure to watch my Instagram stories for more details! Photos by Mu Young #miniature #urbandecay #abandoned #urbex #abando #shopfront #facade #scalemodel #scratchbuilt #graffiti #neon #chinatown #joshuasmithminiature #iknowjoshuasmith

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Author: Donna from MyOBT

I have committed to spending part of every day looking for at least one beautiful thing, and sharing what I find with you lovelies!

6 thoughts on “Urban Decay”

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  1. bcparkison
    May 7, 2019 at 6:41 am

    I love small and he is really detailed in his small world.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. loisajay
    May 7, 2019 at 7:11 am

    Hard to believe these are so tiny! That is some kind of detail work.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Laura (PA Pict)
    May 7, 2019 at 1:15 pm

    These are incredible. The attention of detail is absolutely fantastic. Look at the rust on those tiny locks! I would much rather have one of these than a quaint Edwardian dollhouse. Like you, I am coveting those wee mailboxes.

    Liked by 2 people

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