Washington Post has announced the Winner of The Peeps Show VII: 2013 Diorama Contest winners. The seventh annual Peeps Diorama Contest brought in more than 650 entries.
This year’s standouts include reproductions of oil paintings and controversial films, as well as replicas of iconic landmarks and democratic institutions. But ultimately nostalgia won. The diorama, “Twinkie: Rest in Peeps,” stole the most hearts and votes from The Post newsroom.
As is often the case, I don't agree with all of their picks. So, after the winner and finalists, I'm showing you a few I think should have been honored, such as
The Peeping, an homage to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining shown at the top of this post.
The 2013 Peeps Show Winner:
“Peeps Mourn Their Peeps: Twinkie, Rest in Peeps,” created by Leslie Brown, 55, and Lani Hoza, 48, of Charlottesville.
Lani Hoza, an advanced-placement psychology teacher, and Leslie Brown, a manager in the principal’s office, have a reputation among the students for submitting hilarious dioramas to the contest. Adding to the creativity and absurdity of the scene, the Peep Pope comes out of retirement to preside over the funeral of Twinkie.
The Twinkie will be buried in the graveyard where other departed treats, including Ho Hos and fruit pies, have been laid to rest before it.
Brown bought the wooden box and wood panels and took them to the high school woodworking shop to have them cut before she stained them. She also sews and made the cushions for the pews and all of the outfits.
Finalist: “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Peep”
Mark Rivetti, 29, is a three-time finalist in our contest. His latest diorama is an homage to the oil painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” by French artist Georges Seurat.
Rivetti made use of Georges Seurat's pointillist style, which he’s coined as “Peepalism,” in his depiction of “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” where Peeps enjoy a lazy afternoon on the banks of the River Seine.
Rivetti made 30 figures using the heads of Peep bunnies and sculpted clay for the bodies. To match the perspective of the painting, the Peeps in the background are smaller than the ones in the foreground, a visual trick that makes point of view important to the scene.
Watch Mark create his Masterpeep:
Finalist: “Peep’s Chili Bowl”
The staff of the Corporation for Enterprise Development takes diorama-building seriously. The office team has submitted dioramas for five of our seven contests. Many of the members live in the U Street corridor, making Ben’s Chili Bowl a natural choice.
The team photographed Ben’s to help scale their entry, with the restaurant's popular chili dogs and other dishes being served by aproned marshmallow bunnies. The restaurant is illuminated with a strand of holiday lights.
In the team’s homage to the U Street haunt, President Obama visits Peep’s Chili Bowl with his Secret Service detail while the injured Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III waits outside.
Finalist: “Despeepable Congress”
To make the Minions, they turned Peeps upside down and painted on their trademark blue overalls, adding red overalls, too, to depict the partisan divide.
Googly eyes tricked out with modeling clay and a gluelike substance made from confectioner’s sugar gave the Minions their wild-eyed mien.
At Siemens Building Technologies in Beltsville, a team began building a model of Congress during the State of the Union address. In an unexpected twist, Gru’s Minions from the movie “Despicable Me” replace the representatives and create “Despeepable Congress.”
“We didn’t have a political agenda or message, but we wanted to make a funny and common representation of Congress tripping over themselves,” Hughes said.
Finalist: “Zero Peep Thirty”
Nicholas Burger, 33, and Radha Iyengar, 32, economists at the policy think tank Rand Corp., wanted to depict a scene from “Zero Dark Thirty” without diminishing the importance of SEAL Team 6’s mission.
Judges marveled at the battery-powered, light-up fireball made of spray-painted cotton, and the realistic copy of the compound.
Now, for a few of MY personal favorites:
above:
The Peeping, Submitted by Elizabeth Vogt,14, Lucy Vogt, 11, Brad Vogt, 47, of the District and Peter Vogt, 71, of Cabin John.
above:
Life of Peep, Submitted by Kathy Ansell, 61, and Chris Broquet, 57, of Alexandria.
above:
Banana Joe the Affenpeepscher bests an impressive line-up to take Peepminster's most prestigious award- Best in Peeps. Submitted by LeAnn Lemke, 46, of Potomac Falls.
above:
The Expose on Pink Slime Burgers being served in cafeterias comes too late to save these Pink Peeps. Submitted by Peter Yeo, 49, of Chevy Chase
above:
Michael Peeps goes for gold at the Olympeeps. Submitted by Ron, 56, of Lusby. (I just love the use of the Chick Peeps in the pool coupled with Bunny Peeps as spectators)
To see other entries into this year's contest,
go here.
Thanks to Deb Lindsey and The Washington Post.
Above: An art student and figure model, Silver Spring resident Phyllis Mayes was inspired by figure painting classes for her diorama, titled "Creating a Masterpeeps." The walls are decorated with study drawings, paintings and art exhibit posters, all created by Mayes.
"Goodnight Moon"
above: Based on the children's book "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown, this diorama by MaryLea Harris of Fairfax captures the quiet mood of the story. Harris used fishing line to suspend the red balloon, and, with the exception of the fireplace and rocking chair, created the diorama out of items she had on hand.
"Freedom is not free: A Peeps tribute to the veterans of the Korean War."
Above: Elizabeth Teuwen, Gregory Stackel and Genevieve Sapir of the District were inspired by the Korean War Veterans Memorial for their diorama, titled "Freedom is not free: A Peeps tribute to the veterans of the Korean War." A string of lights replicates the ground-level lighting at the memorial.
"The Mad Hatter's Peep Party"
above: "The Mad Hatter's Peep Party" incorporates bunny-shaped topiaries, handmade paper lanterns and an abundance of Sculpey. The scene was created by Amy Billingham of Kensington and Rob Black and Lauren Emeritz of the District.
With over 1,100 entries, there were many semifinalists, here are a few of my favorites. To see all 37 semifinalists, go here.
A few of my favorite semifinalists:
"Where the Wild Peeps Are"
above: Margaret Cooney and Adam Matuszeski of the District were inspired by Maurice Sendak's classic book for their "Where the Wild Peeps Are" creation. The husband-and-wife pair notes: "Each of the Wild Peeps has a teddy bear or bunny Peep body with either a bunny, teddy bear, or a chick Peep for a head. The eyes are thumbtacks while arms, legs and snouts are made from Peep parts or finger puppets."
"Super Peepio Brothers"
above: Mark Rivetti of Silver Spring took about 45 hours to create this "Super Peepio Brothers" diorama, and he crafted all of the characters, including Mario, Luigi, Lakitu, Bowser, Koopa Troopas, Goombas and Piranha Plants from either chick or bunny Peeps. Note the Peep shapes in mountains, platforms and clouds.
"Synchronized Peeping Practice"
above:"Synchronized Peeping Practice" by Rebecca Glassman of Sterling offers a peek into synchronized swimming practice, as coordinated swimmers dive into a gelatin pool while a Peep with a snorkel and scuba fins waits on the diving board.
"Little Bo Peep"
above:"All of Washington buzzed when President Obama ran down the South Lawn of the White House, showing off the family's new dog, Bo," writes Lauren Lien of Arlington. In her "Little Bo Peep" diorama, Lien captures the moment as the president, red tie flapping in the breeze, jogs with Bo.
"The Mad Peeps of Sterling Coopeep"
above: Seattle resident Jeana Harrington's diorama, "The Mad Peeps of Sterling Coopeep," re-creates the third-season episode of the TV show "Mad Men": "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency." In the scene, tipsy secretary Lois Sadler has just run over a visitor's foot with a John Deere lawnmower. The cast includes Bertram "Bert" Coopeep, Donald Drapeep and Peepy Olson, and the office features a miniature Rothko and a Hokusai.
"Georgia O'Peep"
above: Gwen Jones of Hampton was inspired by the paintings of artist Georgia O'Keeffe for her "Georgia O'Peep" diorama. Jones shows the artist at her easel in the New Mexico desert and incorporates elements of her paintings in the scene, including a cow's skull and a twisted cedar tree.
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents 'The Peeps'"
above: Jill Goebel of Alexandria spotlights an unsuspecting Bunny Hedren in her diorama titled "Alfred Hitchcock Presents 'The Peeps'" Goebel writes: "She sits on the bench, tense although she doesn't quite know why. Maybe a cigarette will calm her nerves. Were those wings? Or just the wind?"
"PeepTube: Jill and Kevin's Wedding Entrance Dance."
above: Arlington's Katie Behr-Szustakowski made a diorama of the YouTube video that depicted a wedding party making a highly choreographed entrance to Chris Brown's "Forever." The artist re-created a screen shot of the video, and titled her creation "PeepTube: Jill and Kevin's Wedding Entrance Dance."
above captions written by Holly E. Thomas for the Washington Post
above 2010 Peeps diorama photos by Bill O'Leary for the Washington Post
Previous Peep Show Winners, Peep Posts and Bunny Bonanza:
•Peeps As Pop Culture: The Peep Show II Winners & More
•PEEPS Peer Pressure! You Want Peeps Art? Here's Some Of The Best
•Non Perishable Peeps- Everything But Edible!
•Bunny Bonanza: Rabbits in Art, Literature, Advertising, & Just Big Bunnies
