104 posts tagged with dolls.
Displaying 1 through 50 of 104. Subscribe:
Barbie is Now Queen. But for my generation, Sindy reigned supreme.
Viv Groskop invokes dolls’ breast size as a feature of national stereotypes: "It wasn’t an idea purely of my own invention, aged five or six, but by the late 1970s I had acquired the understanding – by social and parental osmosis – that there was something “off” about Barbie. She was vulgar, American and very possibly a bit up herself. (The very worst things a female, whether doll or human, could be, we imagined.) I realise now that this was all really to do with what these dolls looked like naked: Barbie’s boobs were obvious, pneumatic and borderline pointy; Sindy’s boobs were more demure, subtler, almost self-effacing. Barbie represented something unapologetic and very possibly sexual. Sindy was safe and wholesome." [more inside]
The note was short: "We've decided to live here."
The owner of the home decided to let them stay. Whimsy ensued.
"Barbie Career of the Year as a Window on Centrist Feminism"
"I am not, nor have I never been, a Barbie collector, but I find the Career of the Year series fascinating as a metric of public attitudes toward feminism. .... Generally Mattel’s team wants to present Barbie as a feminist trendsetter but in a centrist way, a model of forward-thinking but non-controversial feminism, and it’s fascinating to watch that metric evolve." Ada Palmer (previously) discusses the decade-long history of the Career of the Year series, and notes, "Barbie’s 2020 Career of the Year is (for the first time) not a single Barbie but a team". And what happened in 2017?
We want a smaller head, which means it must be pickled for several hours
“안녕~! (Annyeong!) Dollightful is a channel where old toys are transformed by the power of art into unique, one-of-a-kind characters. Whether you're here for a tutorial, or just to laugh and have fun with the ups and downs of a creative process, there's something here for everyone. "Come for the dolls, stay for the cats" as they say.” [more inside]
All about Kenneth Sean Carson's junk
Ken was not merely dickless by default; the bulge was the result of careful strategizing to which his inventors, businessmen, a psychologist, and Japanese manufacturers all contributed. Despite all this planning, Ken still came to represent things his parent company never intended, as icons tend to do. The story of Ken’s crotch is not merely one of PR, manufacturing, and/or branding—it’s about which realities our culture deems acceptable, and which that it seeks to keep hidden. This goes not just for the doll, but for the man he was named after, Ken Handler, who died in 1994 with major parts of his life airbrushed out of public view. (Rich Juzwiak, Jezebel)
Barbie's newest neighbor is whoever you want them to be
Fifty years after Mattel debuted Barbie (YT, ad), they are releasing Creatable World, dolls can be a boy, girl, or neither. 'A Doll For Everyone': Meet Mattel's Gender-Neutral Doll (Time Magazine with embedded video). "If you’re among the skeptics out there, please keep in mind that dolls and toys won’t turn kids into something they’re not — they help kids figure out who they already are." (Cool Mom Picks)
tiny dollhouse renos
...and she took a sip of lemonade from her Barbie teacup.
“I had a 16-inch waist and something on top, too, I sure did, but Barbie’s legs were better than mine.” An interview with Carol Spencer, The Chic Octogenarian Behind Barbie's Best Looks [NYT]
vorsprung durch technik
Nazi Sex Dolls in Space (nsfw, slyt)
Toy Stories
Portraits of Children and their Toys Around the World - From China to Zanzibar, kids proudly pose with their treasures.
The uncanny valley of babies
A woman posts a photo of knitting supplies she bought but people on Twitter are concerned about the baby in the background. I should say "baby," since it's not an infant human but a werepup. What's a werepup? Glad you asked. Can't afford to adopt? Make your own. Many more, uh, "babies" inside! [more inside]
beauty is only skin
Dolls can play a big part in the self esteem of young children. If they see a toy that looks like them, it can make them feel more accepting of who they are. For kids (and even adults) that have vitiligo [NSFW], this is a challenge....While not life threatening, it can affect a person’s confidence, and they might be subjected to taunts or bullying. Kay Black, aka Kay Customz, is an artist encouraging those with vitiligo to be proud of who they are; she’s doing so through inclusive custom dolls that have the same condition.
The answer is none.
How much more creepy can you get than a wasp nest built around a baby doll? Bonus: toddlerpedes! (Jon Beinart previously, previouslier)
This Ken would like you to know that he is a graphic designer.
On Tuesday, Mattel unveiled a new line of diverse Ken dolls to accompany the now diverse Barbie (previously). But who are all these Kens? R. Eric Thomas of ELLE Magazine describes All the Ken Dolls You Will Meet in Your Lifetime.
"Babe, you're freaking out," Logan says, taking my hand. "Let's browse."
I implore you to set your better judgement aside, rationalize the fact that you have already clicked, and take my hand. We're going to the American Girl Store. [SLCracked; weirder than usual]
Everybody needs a hobby
Katherine Dey is a Registered Nurse who also likes to make cakes. And comfort dolls. And sculptures. And body art.
Tiny faces are his canvas
Noel Cruz is an artist who purchases Barbies and official franchise dolls, strips all of their factory paint, and remakes them into faithful portraits of iconic celebrities and beloved characters using acrylic paints and tiny brushes. His dedication to detail extends to hair styling and commissioning custom clothing to bring a doll to life. [more inside]
How Mattel Lost The Disney Princesses
Derren Brown Shocks Commuters with Creepy Victorian Stunt
Controversial magician Derren Brown gave commuters a rush-hour shock with these two chilling Victorian sisters. [more inside]
“The only species on Earth that haven’t attacked me are women”
Marwencol: the incredible WWII art project created by a cross-dresser who was beaten up by bigots [more inside]
Potato Toys
Published in 1931, Игрушки Картошки is a Russian book of toys you can make out of potatoes (and matches, and the occasional stick). [more inside]
Pareidolia, Hypervigilance, and the Uncanny Valley - You Know, For Kids!
American Girl Dolls: The [Action] Movie
Meet Addy
In 1864, a nine-year-old slave girl was punished for daydreaming. Distracted by rumors that her brother and father would be sold, she failed to remove worms from the tobacco leaves she was picking. The overseer didn’t whip her. Instead, he pried her mouth open, stuffed a worm inside, and forced her to eat it. This girl is not real.
The Wonder Of The Age
The Edison Talking Doll is just what it sounds like: a doll, with a small phonograph in its body, mass-produced by Thomas Edison’s lab in the 1890s -- and it … shrieks. It’s like an unearthly Carol Kane screaming in a wind tunnel, trapped in the body of a lifeless totem. Listen at your own risk. Even more Edison Talking Doll recordings.
we will rest upon the ground and look at all the bugs we found
A Tasmanian artist is repainting, reclothing, and re-"homing" Bratz dolls. Underneath the heavy eye-makeup, high heels and porn-star pouts, the artist finds children. [more inside]
On Japanese Farewell Ceremonies for Things
Destruction and sacredness of life are often reasons for conflicts in Western culture; on the contrary, ceremonies like hari kuyo can become, even for Westerners, precious opportunities for reflection. In our habit of first producing and then acquiring, often with craving, a great quantity of objects destined to be thrown away like useless, harmful, and cumbersome rubbish shortly after their acquisition, are hidden the germs of attachment and hate that, together with nescience (avidyā), form the sad trio of spiritual poisons. We generally believe we are good custodians of the environment when hurriedly, even with a bit of resentment, we throw in the rubbish bin all that has been discarded. In transforming "removal" into "restitution," the getting rid of useless objects can instead become a stimulus, and not a mere gesture of refusal, for considering our relationship with activities, objects, and the environment, by carrying out, through decorous and at times melancholic farewell ceremonies, daily exercises of kindness and giving.Farewell Ceremonies for Things, from Dharma World, providing context for a number of Japanese ceremonies, including Hari-Kuyo, the Festival of Broken Needles, Fude-Kuyo, a ceremony for brushes, Ningyo-Kuyo, "a doll funeral", and other ceremony for valued items, activities, and professions.
Diagnosis dolls: carved figures and anatomical manikins from the past
For centuries, artists have made statues and carvings of human figures for medical purposes, from the Chinese physician's dolls or medical dolls (Google news), used to help doctors work around taboos of giving physical exams to women, to the douningyo or meridian dolls (PDF), used to train people in the ways of acupuncture. But the carvings became quite intricate following De humani corporis fabrica (Wikipedia; translated and annotated online), resulting in miniature anatomical manikins, most often carved from ivory (source). [more inside]
"I look like her, and she looks like me."
Disney Junior's Doc McStuffins is an animated children's show about 6-year-old Dottie McStuffins, who wants to be a doctor like her mother, and pretends to be a doctor to her toys. Doc McStuffins has done well as a TV show, but it's as a doll that Doc's success has been stratospheric, with over $500 million in sales last year. “'When little white girls embrace Doc McStuffins, for them Doc McStuffins is a girl, and Doc McStuffins is powerful,' Dr. [Margaret Beale] Spencer said. 'For a little black girl, it may be all of those things, but also that she’s black.'”
MetaFilter For Her: Like MetaFilter, but pink!
Collectors Weekly, a resource for vintage and antique collectors, examines the gender politics of the Easy-Bake Oven, the toy industry’s gender divide, and why ordinary things go pink. (Don't miss the Dumbest Products Made 'For Her' slideshow at the bottom of the "pink" article.)
Hold me tight
Valley of Dolls
Eleven years ago, Ayano Tsukimi returned to her home in Nagoro. Confronted with constant departures, she has populated the village with dolls, each representing a former villager. Around 350 of the giant dolls now reside in and around Nagoro, replacing those that died or abandoned the village years ago.
In a recent documentary titled The Valley Of Dolls, Fritz Schumann explores Tsukimi's world, highlighting the time and artistry that goes into making the figures, and explaining her motivations. In it we're shown around a local school, once filled with children and teachers, that now houses dozens of dolls, sitting statically, waiting for class to begin.
"It's black, like me.": Black dolls and politics
Every so often, ethnic dolls make the news, like this recent piece on Nigeria's Taofick Okoya who started his own line of Nigerian dolls after giving up his search in frustration. Okoya sells between 6,000 and 9,000 of his "Queens of Africa" and "Naija Princesses" a month, and reckons he has 10-15 percent of a small but fast-growing market. But the history of dolls outside of 'mainstream culture' exemplified by blonde blue eyed Barbie has been rife with prejudice and stereotypes. As the African middle classes emerge, is this an opportunity that gives rise to domestic toy industries?
"The prettiest people are the blandest."
Greer Lankton, darling of the 1980s East Village art scene, made glamorous and grotesque dolls that reflected her struggles with anorexia and drug addiction as well as her fascination with sexuality and gender in all their mutable permutations. She died of an overdose only a month after completing her final masterpiece, a recreation of her Chicago apartment inside Pittsburgh's Mattress Factory. [more inside]
"You are never alone at the mannequin factory."
Inside the Proportion>London factory in Walthamstow. - Not an invasion force, honest.
Papercraft project blog Paper Matrix
Paper Matrix is a blog that gives instructions for cool papercraft objects, "reinterpreting the Danish tradition of woven paper hearts and ornaments." Cut paper in the prescribed ways and weave it together carefully to make a mobile of colorful hot air balloons, gorgeous and complex boxes; simple but satisfying pennants and much more... including a full theater for performances by paper dolls.
Sylvain Sylvain's "Rampage of Songs"
Most Friday nights at 10 PM EST, the guitarist of the New York Dolls hosts a "Rampage of Songs" on the band's Facebook page [more inside]
Looks Great (Duh)
"You might remember artist Nickolay Lamm for his work removing doll's makeup to show that they looked just as lovely without that extra layer. Now, as promised, he's created a "normal"-sized Barbie, made to show us more realistic proportions of American women." (also via)
Hello, Lanie the organic gardener
The Atlantic reports on the 2008 removal/"archiving" of the original three American Girl dolls, dolls whose arrival on the market in 1986 represented a "sensibility about teaching girls to understand thorny historical controversies and build political consciousness." [more inside]
"somebody took the time to make a doll in your likeness"
Black Is Beautiful: Why Black Dolls Matter discusses the history and importance of black dolls. Resources referenced in the article include the Black Doll Collecting blog, The National Black Doll Museum of History and Culture, The Philadelphia Doll Museum, and the trailer for the documentary film "Why Do You Have Black Dolls?"
All dolled up, Nigerian style
Todd Haynes' "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story"
One of the more famous suppressed films of recent years is Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, an early work by writer/director Todd Haynes (Safe, Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven). Filmed in 1987, the short film -- which relates the rise and fall of Karen Carpenter with a cast of Barbie dolls -- barely got a year's worth of festival time in 1989 before the twin iron boots of A&M Records and Richard Carpenter came down on Haynes.* [more inside]
Iconic souvenir, Kokeshi dolls from Japan
Kokeshi Dolls originated in North-East Japan as wooden toys for children. They began being produced towards the end of the Edo period (1603~1868) by woodwork artisans, called Kiji-shi, who normally made bowls, trays and other tableware by using a lathe. They began to make small dolls in the winter to sell to visitors who came to bathe in the many hot springs near their villages, which was believed to be a cure for the demands of a strenuous agricultural lifestyle. [more inside]
Bright Lights for Christmas
We have dolls that pee, don't we?
Meet Bebe Gloton, the Breastfeeding Doll who's coming to America. The NY Times opines, Facebook users can't agree on whether it's good or bad, but what does God think?
Potter Babies
Baby Voldemort toy is the most horrifying thing to come out of the Harry Potter world: Tracy Ann Lister creates realistic dolls of characters from Harry Potter as infants.
Ten Dreams Fine Art Galleries
And here is Ten Dreams, your Symbolist, Magical Realist, and Metarealist brain/eye candy art source, featuring, among scores of many other artists and subjects, Alma Tadema, Bouguereau, Ernst, Hundertwasser, Klimt, and Maxfield Parrish, too. And then there is the Ten Dreams of Ten Dreams, and not an exemplar known to me included. [more inside]
Toy Stories
Karakuri ningyō
Karakuri ningyō (からくり人形?) are mechanized puppets or automata from Japan from the 17th century to 19th century. There are many beautiful examples: Arrow shooting, serving tea, the geisha, acrobatics, making magic. [more inside]
Itsy-bitsy teeny-weenie tiny everything
Look at This Little Thing! A tumblr collection of the perfectly tiny and miniature. [via mefi projects]
Marwencol is a fantasy world created by Mark Hogancamp.
After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark Hogancamp built a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Mark populated the town he dubbed "Marwencol" with dolls representing his friends and family and created life-like photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas. Playing in the town and photographing the action helped Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds from the attack. [more inside]