The Worlds Smallest Zoo comes to Wolverhampton.
Shropshires Hammond Galleries brings possibly the worlds best micro Sculpture artist to Wolverhampton, for the World Premiere exhibition of the worlds smallest zoo. Mr Lindon is a master at his craft, find out more and how Amy Winehouse lives in his carpet .....sort of....
Transcript
00:00 When you're ready boss.
00:02 Hello there. Welcome to the smallest zoo in the world.
00:05 I'm Edward Hammond and I'm the founder of the smallest in the world series of exhibitions.
00:10 We look forward to welcoming you to Wolverhampton train station to come and view them for yourselves.
00:15 And sir, you represent Hammond galleries.
00:18 I do indeed.
00:19 You are the Mr Hammond.
00:20 I am Mr Hammond. I own Hammond galleries in Chiffnall and also founded the smallest in the world exhibition.
00:28 Well that's it. This kind of concept, this idea, this is your baby, your project.
00:33 Absolutely. It's been about two and a half years in the making.
00:36 It's an awful lot of hard work but I'm absolutely delighted that it's all come together.
00:40 And with the outstanding artwork of David A. Linden, it is a world first and it's an absolute delight.
00:47 All the family should be able to come and see what it is.
00:51 David Linden.
00:52 Hello. Hi. How are you?
00:53 The man of the moment.
00:55 Thank you.
00:56 David, this work is fantastic.
00:59 Thank you very much.
01:00 You must be a very patient man to create these micro sculptures.
01:03 What we have here is two years of work.
01:05 Each animal takes two months to create.
01:08 So it's two years of my life, blood, sweat and tears, that have gone into making this exhibition.
01:13 So I'm very proud that I've been able to put this together and I hope that people who are at Wolverhampton will come and enjoy it.
01:19 You can learn about the animals but you can also learn about the art itself.
01:24 You can learn about the conservation.
01:26 You can learn about where the animals live, the challenges they face in this difficult world which we have impacted.
01:32 So it's educational, it's fun and it gives you an insight into the micro art.
01:38 How difficult it is to create art in the eye of an eagle.
01:41 I was reading a little bit about you.
01:43 Am I right in saying you work of an eagle so there's less vibrations?
01:48 Yes. People ask me why do you work at night?
01:51 I work at night because of passing traffic.
01:54 A lorry, when it drives past the house, it can make, when I'm sat at the microscope, it can make the art vibrate.
02:00 So I have to wait until the road's quiet, I wait until the house is quiet, I close all the windows, close the curtains
02:07 and then I can sit for hours and hours and hours and create art.
02:12 So that means you've been a nightshift for two years.
02:14 Yes, yes it does.
02:16 Is it quite a relief to switch back to normal day time living there?
02:19 It is, I've got a dog and a son, oh my goodness, yes.
02:22 It really is a relief to have a normal day where I can get up, go and walk the dogs.
02:28 And do you have to get yourself in the right mental state in terms of being relaxed and still, inner stillness sort of thing?
02:35 Yes, I have to work literally between heartbeats.
02:38 I don't enjoy what I do but I do enjoy the look of wonder on people's faces when it's done.
02:44 But I have to sit still for hours and hours and hours, I can't drink too much, I've got to try and avoid alcohol,
02:50 I can't drink too much coffee because that affects my nerves.
02:56 I've got to hold myself so still for hours and hours and hours, it's such hard work.
03:01 I've got to concentrate.
03:03 It's training like an athlete isn't it?
03:05 It's like doing a marathon.
03:07 Yeah, yeah.
03:08 It's like doing a marathon.
03:09 And have you been to Wolverhampton before?
03:11 I've been to Wolverhampton a number of times because Ed, my manager, lives not far from here.
03:16 So I've fallen in love with Wolverhampton, I really like Wolverhampton.
03:20 And I'm so happy that the people of Wolverhampton have given me this opportunity to hold my first solo exhibition in your lovely city.
03:28 So please come and enjoy it, learn about the animals, see my art and have a wonderful time over this Easter.
03:35 It's open seven days a week.
03:37 And it's quite interactive this exhibition isn't it? I'm learning. Just fill us in on what you mean by that.
03:43 Yeah, so people will have been to art galleries before, but maybe what they haven't seen is the immersive side that this exhibition brings.
03:51 So Smallest in the World has really thought about everybody that wants to come and visit.
03:55 So there's lights, there's tactile buttons, if you press you can hear the sound of the animals,
04:00 we have sign language and subtitles on the video and we also have QR codes that lead to audio descriptions.
04:07 So when we look around the exhibition, you're looking through a microscope to see something that you can't see with the naked eye.
04:13 But you can also have a look at the challenge towers, they're tactile, you can touch and feel and hear and watch.
04:19 And we've tried to make it immersive for as many groups as possible.
04:22 And that's the polar bear just kicking off in the background isn't it there because we've pressed the button.
04:26 Yes, we've done our research to make sure all of the noises are 100% accurate.
04:30 So David we were just chatting and I was just saying you must have times where you're 80-90% done and something breaks,
04:37 you lose something and you were just telling me a great little story.
04:40 Yes, a couple of years ago I was creating, I love Amy Winehouse, I'm always listening to Amy Winehouse when I create my art.
04:46 And I thought I'm now going to make an Amy Winehouse, I'm going to put it inside the Ivan needle.
04:50 And when I first started to do this, I made one and I thought well I'll make another one.
04:56 And the second one I made, which was quite good, I lost her.
04:59 She flicked away with like static electricity, she disappeared out of the microscope.
05:04 And then we were on our hands and knees at 2 o'clock in the morning trying to find her and we never did.
05:09 She could be on my shoe. I never found Amy Winehouse. So I had to go away and make another one.
05:15 You lost Amy Winehouse in your carpet.
05:18 Probably still in my bedroom somewhere.
05:20 Who could say that? Honey, I shrimp Amy Winehouse.
05:23 Here we go.
05:25 I've got a tripod in the back.
05:27 Wouldn't need all of it.
05:29 I can't put it all at the same time.
05:31 Because it's such a small equipment.
05:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]