A love of miniature 微縮物的獨特魅力

無論是在藝術、電影、文學，還是玩具裡，我們都可以看到微縮物的身影。千百年來，人類對微小的物品情有獨鐘。如今，網上有專做迷你食物的烹飪頻道，也有藝術傢展示用日常物品創造出的獨特微觀模型。本期 “隨身英語” 討論為什麼有些人會格外喜歡這些袖珍的物件。

詞匯：size 尺寸

What do table football, a doll’s house and a remote-control car all have in common? They are all smaller versions of real things. And humans have long been intrigued by all things miniature. The Chinese ancient art of nut carving sees artists sculpt intricate designs, including microscopic people, into fruit or nut stones. English author Mary Norton wrote the fictional book series The Borrowers – they are tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of a normal-sized house. And then there are the online channels all about miniature cooking.

Valarmathi and Rajkumar, who run The Tiny Foods, film tiny versions of traditional Indian dishes being made, set amongst the backdrop of a minuscule village complete with teeny cooking utensils. Speaking to the AYYBLOG, Valarmathi says she was inspired by her grandmother who ‘used to cook in really tiny pots’. Similarly, Kate Murdoch, who runs Tiny Kitchen, makes meals cooked on a hob that’s powered by a tealight. Her videos include whisking eggs in a tiny mixing bowl and then cooking omelettes in pans the size of a postage stamp.

And then there’s the art world… The miniature artist and photographer Tanaka Tatsuya has been rising to online fame. He takes everyday small objects and turns them into new fun-size dioramas. His creations include a face mask resembling lanes in a swimming pool, watermelon mountains and some penguins on an iceberg, which is in fact a bar of soap.

So, why do we love small things? Simon Garfield, author of In Miniature, says that holding a scaled-down world in our hands, gives us a feeling of control and helps us understand what is too big to envision at full scale, like skyscrapers and railways. With models, we can observe, learn and appreciate what we have – with less. He discusses how the fascination may also relate to childhood. Toy dolls and plastic construction kits make us conquerors of worlds. ‘We may never have such dominion over the world again, unless we continue the play into adulthood.’

So, just like the worlds of art and literature, why not embrace a little love of miniature?

詞匯表

miniature 微型的，袖珍的
intricate 復雜精細的
microscopic 極小的，需要用顯微鏡才能看到的
tiny 微小的
normal-sized 正常尺寸的
backdrop 背景
minuscule 微小的，極小的
teeny 很小的
tealight 茶蠟
postage stamp 郵票
turn into 將…變成…
fun-size 比普通尺寸小的
diorama （重現故事場景或自然世界樣貌的）立體透視模型
resemble 看起來像，與…相似
scaled-down 縮小比例的
full scale 全尺寸，原物大小
model 模型