Why tiny things are so easy to love.

I think I'm pretty typical in my love for tiny cuteness. The other day I nearly berfed when I saw a baby Husky crossing the road. I swear to you it was smiling.

I came across this neato article by Rachel Poliquin in The Believer called The Visual Erotics of Mini-Marriages. It's sort of about why people find small things cute and wonderful, and sort of about really bizarre things that people have done to...celebrate that I guess? or exploit it? I could try to summarize the strangeness, but it's probably better if you just read the article yourself. You'll totally learn something weird.

And here are some small art things that I love.

a tiny street art project - the artist creates little scenes and then leaves them out on the street, usually in and around London. The first one here was left in Victoria, London. You can see the eensy speck in the second photo, to give you an idea of the scale of these projects.

This one was done in front of Westminster Abbey:

I am delighted by the work of Minimiam (Akiko Ida and Pierre Javelle), who create little worlds with food and smartness:

Here's a little offering from Monkey's Paw - The Liliput Dictionary (French and English), published in the 1930s by F.J. Wershoven. They come with the little case!

And a project I've loved for a while, Bill Burns' Safety Gear for Small Animals. The artist, concerned for the safety of wild animals, has produced prototype items ranging from bulletproof vests, helmets and distilled water. He also offers insurance policies for various species of flora and fauna. Work gloves and dust mask pictured below.

So is all this programmed response to small things a direct result of parenting instincts and wanting to protect little ones? Or to wanting to feel powerful in comparison? Or to envying childhood and smallness? Or maybe just because small animals just objectively have cuter and rounder faces than big ones? So many questions.

And also, this is really funny.