Microscopic Art

Alex from Colombia forwarded me these pictures of microscopic art. The pictures come with this caption:
Willard is a resident of Birmingham, England. The show is in Manchester. He has a learning disability, Dyslexia, but has talented hands. He makes the sculptures out of dust particles, sugar crystals, etc. He works only around midnight, and can do some of the work only between heartbeats.
Yes, it's all true. The artist's full name is Willard Wigan. You can check out his website.

Incidentally, Wigan is not the only micro-sculptor around. The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has, for quite a few years, had a display of the microminiatures of Hagop Sandaldjian. Worth checking out if you're ever in the area. The MJT website notes that Sandaldjian also developed a technique for working between heartbeats:
Born of obsessive devotion, an individual figure could take as many as fourteen months to finish. Each sculpted micron represented not only endless hours of toil, but exacting travail fraught with peril, as his work could so easily be destroyed or lost. An unexpected sneeze or misdirected breath could blow away a microminiature with hurricane force, while a casual movement could sabotage the work of months. Since even a pulse in his fingers could cause an accident, Sandaldjian ultimately learned to apply his decisive strokes only between heartbeats.

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Art

Posted on Thu Sep 28, 2006



Comments

Impressive!!! Very impressive...
Posted by Christopher  on  Thu Sep 28, 2006  at  07:04 PM
I think he should put a camel in the eye of one of his needles, in honor of Matthew 19.24.
Posted by Annie  on  Thu Sep 28, 2006  at  07:43 PM
I think he should put a camel in the eye of one of his needles, in honor of Matthew 19.24.

Micro-miniature sculptor (uh - he makes little sculptures, I ain't saying' he's size-deficient!) Anatoly Konenko has already done this - actually, he put a whole train of camels in the eye of a needle. If you ever come to Prague you can see it in the flesh, but here's a (not very clear) picture: http://www.monochrom.at/english/2005/02/siberian-craftsman-makes-art.htm

Konenko also made the smallest book ever: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=48253
Posted by outeast  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  01:52 AM
The 'Eye of the needle' was a narrow gate into Jerusalem btw. It is said a camel could just barely squeeze through it.
Posted by Ed  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  02:13 AM
There is also a museum in Bath, Southwest England of the same amazing art.
Posted by Dannymnz  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  02:27 AM
Ed, that's an old story but one with no evidence behind it, basically motivated by the desire to find a 'get-out' clause for rich Christians. There's a reasonable discussion of it on Wikipedia, another here.
Posted by outeast  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  02:28 AM
Or here: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrichman.html
Posted by Mikkel  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  03:02 AM
WOW! MINIS-COOL! :lol:
Posted by Hairy Zucchini  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  06:37 AM
That is truly amzaing. Anyone have any info on how they manage to do this?
Posted by Grain  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  10:43 AM
Very cool
Posted by Floormaster Squeeze  on  Fri Sep 29, 2006  at  10:59 AM
The smallest sculpture ever is 30 times smaller than this full stop.People can write on grains of rice.I believed this was real before I read its status as real.
Posted by J  on  Wed Oct 04, 2006  at  12:53 AM
THATS INCREDIBLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by T. W.  on  Thu Jun 21, 2007  at  12:13 PM
I think he did make one of a camel in a needle eye
Posted by SDFB  on  Thu Apr 24, 2008  at  08:45 AM
Hello,
My name is Don B. This kind of work is, i'll just use Incredible. There are many words of praise that i could chose. I have been searching for months to find out about the Etching & Painting on rice. I have 2 pieces,that i am going to sell for a friend. We have them secured, maginfied, and pictures. One is in Color, a scene on waters edge, in Bejjing,China. Has chop marks, i think they are called. The other is black & white.
Plainly i just need direction. Where do i fnd their worth?
I don't want some, not so Honest, person to take us. The money would go to his mother. Belonged to her husband. They were brought back to the States, soon after WW2. Thats all i know, and i sure could use "Help".
Cordually, Don Burns
Posted by donald burns  on  Sun Feb 22, 2009  at  01:23 PM
Very delicate art that is. I really like the little boxing arena. Respect!
Posted by Frank Zweegers  on  Tue Aug 25, 2009  at  02:46 AM
There's an engraver in Birmingham, England named Graham Short who is doing amazing miniature work. How do these people do it??? It's obviously a talented gift. I hope these guys appreciate what they have been given.
Posted by Jenny Charlton  on  Fri Dec 10, 2010  at  08:03 AM
I have a friend who is a modelmaker (professional constructor of props for films etc), and he enhanced the "miniatures" section of his portfolio by making a large coin beside which he photographed everyday objects, pretending that he had made them and that they were tiny. It was done in a slightly tongue-in-cheek way...
Posted by Dave  on  Fri Feb 22, 2013  at  03:30 PM
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