The Droste Effect, or how to get confused

Some time ago I'd run into miniatures where I'd least expected it. It was at The Zuiderzee Museum, an open air museum here in Holland, showing how people used to life and work around the Zuiderzee between 1880 and 1930, the period which preceded the completion of the Ijselmeer dam in 1932. It's a tranquil little fisherman's village, inhabited by actors that keep playing their role so fierce, they invite you to join them for them a cup of coffee in their small and old fashion kitchen, claiming it's 'time for a break from mending fishing nets'.

As we were strolling around we came to this large barn. Not knowing what to expect we entered this robust building and that's where the Droste Effect set in.

In case you're unfamiliar with this term';  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droste_effect.  In short it's known as miss en abyme in art. It's the effect of a picture appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. The appearance is recursive; the smaller version contains an even smaller version of the picture, and so on. The effect is named after the design on the storage tins and cardboard boxes of Droste Cacoa powder, one of a main Dutch brands. It shows a nurse carrying a serving tray with a cup of hot chocolate and a box with the same image  ----->

Now back to the barn. Walking into it was surreal…  It was a high empty space, and the inside was all painted white. The barn was divided on the right hand side by a large glass wall, separating 2/3 of the space from the entrance area. Behind the glass wall was raised platform, a bit like a stage. On top of it was, what seemed to be, a living room setting. 

That was surreal on its own, not something I'd expected. The entrance area was completely empty, except from a pedestal with a maquette. A closer look made me realize it was a model from the barn. The roof was transparent so you could look inside the model.

And there you could see the 'living room' behind the glass wall. And in the entrance area was also the same model as I was actually looking at. And that's when things started to twist and turn…. I got sucked in.

Because it was like looking like at a 1:144 dolls house inside a 1:12 dolls house while you're actually inside the dolls house itself. And in this case it was a representation of itself. 

And if you looked even closer you could see a micro model inside the miniature model, inside the model. 

A confusing experience, which left me feeling like the nurse on a Droste storage tin. Fortunately it was a magically beautiful day and walking back home the wind in my hair cleared my head in the sky. How wonderful miniatures can be :)