Lori Nix’s Post-Apocalyptic City

“Botanic Garden,” by Lori Nix

The apocalypse is coming to Monk Blvd.

Put down that can of tuna, young conspiracy theorist. This apocalypse is imagined in the photographs of Brooklyn-based artist Lori Nix. Ten images from her ongoing City series now line the major commercial artery of Côte St-Paul and Ville Émard in an open-air exhibit thanks to MAP (Mouvement Art Public), in collaboration with the Sud-Ouest borough.

“I’m kind of surprised they wanted show my work, because the subject is ‘depressing spaces,’” Nix self-effacingly jokes. The photos depict interiors from an abandoned city where humans have disappeared. “The spaces are being overtaken by things that were there to begin with, the flora and fauna. They don’t miss us now that we’re gone. Maybe the dogs will miss us, but the cats won’t.”

The city scenes are in fact dioramas, each one lovingly crafted over a seven-month period in Nix’s apartment. “I spent three months hand carving all the books in ‘Library’ out of insulation foam,” she says, “It took two days to insert them into the shelves.” Her hard work has paid off in a poignant study of the transience of contemporary civilization, a warning that one day, all things human will decay and disintegrate.

Nix’s recreation of high and low culture takes inspiration from the world around her. “I’m inspired by my surroundings and my memory,” she says. “Growing up in middle-of-nowhere Kansas, Mother Nature just hammers you over and over. Tornados, blizzards, hailstorms, droughts, seven-foot snow drifts. It was fun for a kid. Very dynamic.”

The works also come from her imagination. Right now, she’s working on a diorama of an anatomy classroom. “Try Google-ing anatomy classroom. There are a few historical images and scenes of university spaces — not a lot to go on. I have to imagine what it looks like.”

Each scene incubates for a two to three year period before she begins the construction process. “I usually purchase a single item and use that to scale the rest of the piece,” she says. She points to the globe used in “Library” and the cactus on the “Laundromat at Night” as examples.

Creating large architectural spaces on a small scale is part of the appeal. “We’re surrounded by architecture,” she says, “Each piece gives me a new way to think about space. How to make a barrel vault or an arch becomes a problem I have to solve. It’s what I think about on my daily commute.”

The real magic of her work is in the attention given to details. Like a Wes Anderson film, an insignificant poster on the wall can be laden with meaning. “There are inside jokes,” she says.

The display cases and trees in “Library” are perfect examples. “The display cases are from the library of my childhood. It had display tables in the basement with exotic eggs — ostrich eggs, bantam chicken eggs — on individual pillows. What kind of library has that?”

By turning these micro-worlds into large prints, she hopes viewers will take time with her work. “I hope you can lose yourself in the image and see the details. If you give it more than a three second glance, you will definitely get more out of it, pick up on some of the humour.”

Just as the dioramas capture the gradual effect of decay, Nix makes use of techniques that are slowly falling out of favor. “I’m all about doing things the old fashioned way,” she says. “I make everything by hand. I shoot with film. I print the images on photo paper myself. It’s an old fashioned way of working. Most people would use Photoshop and a printer now.”

She adds one last thought, “My partner and I have a motto, ‘Work harder not smarter.’ It’s the opposite of what you should be doing, but it works for us.” ■

The vernissage for City takes place tonight, Aug. 23, at Maison de la Culture Marie-Uguay (6052 Monk), from 12 p.m.