Much of the work of NYC-based artist David Hochbaum centers on the idea of "claustrophobic cities told in montage," of the kind you can find in Bruegel's Tower of Babel, where zoomed-out urban landscapes are crowded with tiny impressions of houses. In his latest project, which is less claustrophobic but significantly ups the playscape appeal, Hochbaum takes the scraps and remnants from wooden frames he built for paintings and makes them into miniature villages. If there are any Etsy enthusiasts on your list of holiday-gifting obligations, consider Village in a Can, a set of 11 totally unique houses stuffed, well, into a can, a chance to check them off early.
The soup cans were originally used to ship Hochbaum's earlier attempts at tiny handcrafted dwellings—a series of homes based on the witch out of Russian folklore who lives in a dwelling on chicken legs—before they become a part of the artwork itself. Each house is unique and hand-signed, and comes out of Hochbaum's tendency to "get obsessive" with a limited-run project, painting them for days on end. The effort seems to have paid off: there are only a few of these sets left on Hochbaum's personal site, so enthusiasts would be advised to act fast.
· David Hochbaum: Village in a Can [Cool Hunting]