The One-Sixth World

Excerpt from The Village Voice:

On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked by five young men in a Kingston, New York, parking lot. The assault left the ex–navy man, carpenter, and showroom designer in a coma for nine days. He emerged with brain damage that initially made it impossible for him to walk, eat, or speak.

So what did he do to claw his way back to life...?

He built the fictional Belgian town of "Marwencol" in his backyard.

A one-sixth scale world populated by WWII action figures including surrogates for friends and family.

The photographs he began taking fulfilled his fantasies. Stories of pent-up desire and revenge.

I got turned onto Mark Hogancamp's work from this past week's episode of "This American Life" on Showtime (which is very good, you NPR-snobs—you can watch the shows online). Because Ira Glass can be excellent at mumbling, I had the dickens of a time trying to figure out Hogancamp's last name so that I could look him up for this entry.

Looks like the website's still under construction as of this date, but you can visit the town of Marwencol online.

Don't forget to see the new Indiana Jones movie this weekend, kiddies! It's new!