Interesting Process

Title: Floral Font (detail)
Date: 1989
Artist: Charles Simonds
Size: 12 feet in diameter
Material: Clay, wood, and plaster

Simonds creates ancient ruins for a legendary race of tiny people that he created in his own mind. He used to create these elaborate cities on the street corners in New York, but has since moved on to creating permanent installations for museums and other patrons. Each brick is made individually and placed with tweezers and mortared so they are fully functional. He then adds all the other details to his dwellings and the final touch is to sprinkle them with sand to make them appear deserted and abandoned.