Sometimes size do not Project.
A miniature set titled “The Casting Couch,” which won first place at the Kentucky State Fair, was removed from the exhibit as inappropriate after officials realized it depicted a set from an infamous adult film.
Third place winner Preston Pauling’s set was minimal: white walls, a door, a window with blinds, grey carpeting, a black leather couch, a worn office chair and a computer monitor connected to a camera.
Upon closer inspection, you’ll see a replica of a couch on a computer screen with a red circle in the top right corner indicating a record button.
“It’s basically just an inside joke,” Poling told The Post on Friday. “We wanted to bring it to the fair and see if people would connect with the concept.”
“You either get the joke or you don’t.”
Poling, 42, said he purposely avoided placing a magnetic placard of his title on the set when he walked in, instead waiting to see if people would connect the cheesy dots.
Poling said the design won third place in the “I Did it My Way” category, a more open submission option.
“I submitted a piece of kitsch,” he insisted. “It was just a joke.”
The self-taught miniature maker said he was not trying to do anything inappropriate or offensive and just wanted people to have fun with his exhibit, adding that some miniature exhibits risk becoming too repetitive and “boring”.
Poling added that the “guys” who were dragged in to see the miniature exhibit “were able to enjoy a building that was made especially for them, in a place they normally wouldn’t get to enjoy.”
He said he went to great lengths to make the furniture look somewhat worn, using pastels, lacquer and sandpaper to give it a cheap, rough appearance.
Photos from the lewd exhibit even show sweat stains on the sofa, suggesting it had actually been used.
The drama unfolded when Pauling was alerted by a friend that his designs had disappeared – he posted a “missing” warning on his Instagram page.Bearded Miniaturist” he said, before going to the venue and realising that his set was indeed not there.
Poling said Kentucky State Police were called in initially after it was thought that one of his popular merchandise sets had been stolen, but it was later discovered that it had been taken in the commotion.
The miniaturist said he was told the piece was removed because it was deemed inappropriate, but that the state fair allowed him to display the ribbons it won and other miniatures at the fair.
Poling also won best in show for his miniature scene from AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and received the craftsmanship award for his miniature based on the classic novel “Goodnight Moon.”
The artist, who owns a residential painting company in Louisville, said she only picked up the design hobby in 2020 out of pandemic boredom and recreated the iconic living room from “Frasier.” The set won first place in the dollhouse category at that year’s fair.
When asked about the set problems, the Kentucky State Fair said in a statement Friday night that “entries submitted to the fair are reviewed regularly throughout the event, and the piece in question has been removed from the exhibit.”
This isn’t Pauling’s first violent clash with a fair judge.
The piece, which he described as a “creepy sex dungeon”, was removed before it went up for review last year.
