Miniature model city made of staples by Peter Root in progress

Peter Root is truly a visionary artist creating marvelous miniature model cities. He sees science fiction metropolises and fantasy planets where most of us see staple stacks and scrap metal. He even manages to integrate his surroundings in strange and unique ways, such as the drainage hole and rust spot of his bathtub (shown as a distant city center lit up far behind the staple skyscraper above).

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Miniature model city made of staples by Peter Root detail

Like a talented tilt-shift photographer, this artist also captures his subjects up close to convey a sense of depth and size – one would almost believe this staple city could be a real skyline somewhere.

Using other scrap metal pieces, Root has also crafted far more complex mechanical cities with jutting spires, raised walkways and gathering spaces for the invisible public in the center of it all.

Peter Root miniature model soap city

Though he has a tendency to use metal most of the time, not all of his sculptures come from metallic scraps – the sculpture pictured above, for instance, is composed of molded, sculpted and carved bars of soap.

Peter Root miniature model mixed media

In collaborative projects, Root has allowed his approach to mix freely with other artistic media, in this case surrounded by splatterings of paint and colorful contraptions and populated with so-called alien ‘space invader’ pedestrians.

Miniature model city made of staples by Peter Root

Whether you take them in from afar as purely sculptural objects or lean in close to see them as tiny cities, the work of Peter Root is captivating as both a set of abstract miniature sculptures or seen as recycled metal structures.

Miniature model city made of staples by Peter Root skyline

The artist spoke to Anti-Utopias about the laborious nature of his work:

“Repetitive procedures are often associated with mechanical, industrial production; they are identical, un-faltering, and inhuman. It’s difficult, impossible (for me anyway) to repeat, repeat and repeat the same thing over and over without making and identifying mistakes as potential for unplanned avenues of exploration. I’m too clumsy and impatient to repeat exactly the same thing indefinitely. I think this is common in the approach of many artists. Being aware of the potential of new discoveries through unexpected occurrences. Otherwise this repetitive approach would be to blindly go on creating the same thing over and over… which could also be an interesting starting point for another project. Repetition results in use of time. Time is often associated with purpose and sense of worth. Without intending to sound cynical, everything is temporary, so does it really matter how long something exists for?”