This year, the Nest invites you to mess with your sense of proportion and perspective. We’ll make tiny things huge and huge things tiny. Not Actual Size is a playful exploration of scale – how it shapes the way we understand our surroundings, each other, and ourselves. Sometimes our telescopes and microscopes give us a better understanding of the world. Sometimes we use scale to trick each other. Let’s play with both.
In the glade, expect the familiar to feel strange and the strange to feel oddly familiar. Small, intimate objects might loom large and demand attention. Vast ideas might be shrunk down, tucked into corners, or revealed only if you look closely enough. Think dollhouse worlds you can step inside, monumental details blown up beyond reason, or spaces that invite you to crouch, peer, stretch, or climb to truly experience them.
Scale is emotional as well as physical. A tiny gesture can feel enormous. A big, loud moment can suddenly feel insignificant. Not Actual Size asks you to notice where meaning lives for you: in the grand spectacle, or in the quiet, easily-missed detail. What feels overwhelming? What feels precious? What changes when you’re forced to see it differently?
Artists, builders and performers are encouraged to distort proportions, expectations, and hierarchies. Make us feel small. Make us feel giant. Make us question our own importance – or rediscover it in unexpected places
Ultimately, this theme is an invitation to curiosity and mischief. Prepare to fool, delight and disorient. Bring your sense of humour, your sense of wonder, and your willingness to look twice. Things may not be what they seem – and they’re definitely not actual size.