On Wednesday we were invited to the inauguration of an art exhibition that aims to create a scape for the mind into miniature worlds inside the world of Scandic Malmen.
Martin Lima de Faria is the artist in charge of re-decorating the walls of the hotel’s bistro restaurant and for this commission he has created “Small People Big Plans”. In this collection of square-shaped photographs he presents different scenes where miniature people live, love and dream. The scenes are inspired by the artist’s own life experiences. His family, friends and strangers are placed in different environments. In these scenes you might find a couple with ice-skates, holding each other and gliding on a broken i-phone screen. In another one you’ll find a family holding hands, as a rain of chocolate with coloured confectionery falls down on them. Looking further you will find deep ocean divers diving into a Dry Martini.
Each one of Lima de Faria‘s photographs take you to another reality, the reality of ‘the impossible art’ as he calls it himself, that has the purpose to spread joy and turn perspectives around. That is exactly what is the most captivating in all this: he embraces this difficult challenge by delicately creating all these miniature worlds for the miniature people, that are perhaps not much bigger than 1 cm tall. And everything you see is real. He refrains from using Photoshop, which makes his pieces real works of art.
At the opening of “Small People Big Plans” at Scandic we were welcomed by Martin Lima de Faria himself, who introduced the screening of his film ‘Little Love’ – a movie where the little people face the great love with a Magnum revolver, recorded at 10,000 frames per second. The video is Lima de Faria‘s homage to his loved ones, divided into 9 different clips. Some of these 9 episodes became the pieces of artwork that now adorn the hotel’s bistro and bar. Watch the trailer to ‘Little Love’ below:
After the screening of ‘Little Love’ the artist took us on a tour to see the whole collection of photographs, which are also on sale. He also presented some pieces that were created, inspired by Scandic Malmen‘s menu and atmosphere. One can describe them as microcosms in which the little people are found on food, in drinks and with everyday objects, having grand plans for life – small people, big plans…
So if you’re around Södermalm, don’t forget to stop by Scandic Malmen and visit Martin Lima de Faria‘s exhibition and perhaps even buy one of his pieces.
