When you really look at Nice-based artist Mathieu Schmitt’s dioramas, you’ll notice that something isn’t right. The objects in them are slightly askew or have a noticeable imperfection to them. And, they’re supposed to be that way. Schmitt uses flaws in technology to craft these miniature eerie, ominous scenes. His series is titled Glitched, and the artist places slightly misshapen 3D-printed park benches, cars, and more into smoked-glass cubes with little light.
To create these alluring works, Schmitt corrupts the 3D model data by forcing the original file to go through several stages of data interpretation. This leaves room for error (or several of them) and creates a glitch. So, something like a bridge will have an uneven, elongated side. He then places it (and the other printed pieces) into a black cube whose filters block 95% of natural light. Areas are specifically illuminated using warm, sparse lighting to highlight these oddities.
Schmitt’s moody displays hold unexpected surprises for us; we can tell that something’s slightly askew among the snow, streetlamps, and overturned cars, but Glitched seems to pose more questions than it answers.
