BEYOND OZ: VISITS TO OUR WORLD
The “Oz” dioramas are an attempt to reverse-engineer the Oz stories by having the major characters of the Frank Baum books, Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Glinda the Good and the Cowardly Lion enter our world. These episodes are deliberately playful and ironic, and typically occupy the space of a cigar book or occasional wooden box. There are over a hundred of these dioramas. They can be exhibited individually, in groups or in a large antique cabinet specially adapted for display purposes.
The Oz Dioramas have thus far been formally exhibited twice:
Black Swan Music and Books, Staunton, VA 24401
Fall and Winter 2014-2015
Augusta County Library, Fishersville, Virginia
Fall and Winter 2016-2017
Group 1: Top row, left to right
The Scarecrow considers the meaning of cosmic flux
Dorothy visits her new friends in the Hamptons
Dorothy goes on a tourist junket to Egypt
The Scarecrow reflects on Jurassic history
Dorothy watches a skirmish in the war of the clouds
Second row from top, left to right
Dorothy waits in the piazza for George de Chirico to meet her for dinner
Dorothy presents the Lilliputians Band of OZ to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
The Tin Woodman tries to stop Shamu, the whale, from splashing the members of Parliament at Westminster
The Tin Woodman engages in battle with Dali’s Shirley Temple-headed sphinx
The Scarecrow views the Starry Night
Third row from top, left to right
While visiting Florida, Dorothy sees a ship in a bottle close to shore
Believing that prayers alone are not enough, the tin woodman attacks the giant shark from Jaws
The Scarecrow and the penguin run away to join the circus with their new friend the mastodon
Dorothy and Tin Woodman learn about the physics of prismatics
Dorothy goes joy-riding with Harry Potter
Fourth row from top, left to right
The Scarecrow gets wild and crazy at a party at Richard Hamilton’s
The Scarecrow considers the possibility of perpetual motion
The Tin Woodman takes a wild ride on a great wave off of Kanagawa with his friend, the Pooka
Dorothy, the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow explore the Luray Caverns
The Scarecrow explains to the Cowardly Lion the significance of Ole Worm’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Fifth row from top, left to right
The Scarecrow explains to C-3PO the principles at work in the Enterprise’s dilithium crystal
The Tin Woodman discovers his friend, Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, while the penguin gives him a tour of the Antarctic
The Tin Woodman, on seeing the Statute of Liberty, realizes that at last he has found the woman of his dreams
The Cowardly Lion comes face-to-face with Mae West
The Tin Woodman wards off the attack of the Slinky
Dorothy witnesses an epic moment in motion picture history
Sixth row from top, left to right
The Cowardly Lion meets the dilithium princess
Dorothy attends the Pokemon court
The Cowardly Lion visits Tinker Bell in her seraglio
Dorothy bravely overcomes her sea sickness
On his trip to Japan, the Cowardly Lion is surprised to come across his old friend, the Bartlett Pear Lady
Seventh row from top, left to right
The Tin Woodman and King Farouk’s butler marvel at a statue of Nefertiti
The Scarecrow asks Robinson Crusoe if he would like to be his “Man Friday”
The Cowardly Lion reflects on the female form
Corny Cornhusker asks the Scarecrow if he would like a job guarding his family
The Tin Woodman rides a bucking bronco into a Georgia O’Keefe sunset
Eight row from top, left to right
While at the beach, Sponge Bob Square Pants encourages the Tin Woodman not to go swimming in the salt water but instead, to relax in a freshwater bath
The Apollo astronauts are startled to discover that the Scarecrow made it to the Moon first
The Tin Woodman confronts his girlfriend, the Little Mermaid, about her affair
The Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion confront Godzilla at the foot of Mount Fuji
The Tin Woodman meets his friend, the Indian Bengal knight, and his entourage at the Taj Mahal