Small-Scale Space — Mozu’s Hidden Rooms

The video zooms in on what looks like a standard power outlet wall plate. Then a hand reaches into frame and opens the outlet like a tiny doorway to reveal a detailed miniature living space replete with illuminated desktop computer, microwave, blinking router lights, mini-mini fridge, and everything else you’d expect to find in an efficient workspace, just at a microscopic size.

Laboring over three months, artist Mozu (aka Mizukoshi Kiyotaka) used plastic boards, LED lights, wood, and more to make his Miniature Secret Base Inside an Outlet. The most difficult part, he says, was making the blinking LEDs for the Wi-Fi router. Living in Tokyo, Japan, Mozu has been creating miniature models since he was 16 years old. It’s an ongoing childhood dream of his, and one that he’s had commercial success with as well. He made background miniatures for the adorable stop-motion animation Rilakkuma and Kaoru on Netflix, and recently started his own design studio.

The magic of his tiny, hidden office isn’t just that the scene is so small, it’s how much the space looks lived in. The RCA plugs from the video game system are connected to the front of the TV because plugging into the back is a pain; the slight curl of the calendar on the wall suggests a person who regularly looks ahead at upcoming events.

At one point I had forgotten that I had the video open in a browser tab, and when I clicked back I legitimately thought another video of a real office had started autoplaying. But nope — it was still Mozu’s tiny world. It’s that good.

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