Barbie Manipulation #1

Following my recent rant regarding the mannequins and the workshop scenario, I went shopping in search of something else to use. Whilst trawling the shops I found two Barbie dolls for £1 each - bargain!

The barbies range in age with a difference of 5 years, the one with the rubber body being the newest and using newer technologies - the other being plastic, with stiff joints.

I aim to use these Barbies as stand-in mannequins for the project so I can experiment with different materials to play around with 'body image' and give me an idea of what materials I'll be able to use for the final piece(s).

First of all I headed to Argos and bought a Play-Doh set for £9.99 and then I started experimenting with it creating different forms on the Barbie dolls. See the pictures below:

 

I then decided to compare the more realistic womanly shape to that of the older Barbie (below, old barbie is on the left, newer on the right) and this picture just shows how ridiculous the Barbie figure is. The mannequins I have been trying to get hold of also use unrealistic measurements in an attempt to make the clothes look nicer and the shape of the mannequin more 'sexy'. 

Above Right: Showing the larger, fuller, more realistic bum of a woman

Above Right: Pregnant / 'fat' 

Above Right: Showing the 'Saddle Bags' most  middle aged women have

Above: Showing the shape of a woman's leg once they are of a larger, fuller figure

I then wondered what it would be like to 'wear' the "fat" on myself. There was a problem with regards to the Play-Doh sticking to my skin, so I put on a pair of basic surgical gloves. Below is the picture of my original hand:

I wondered what it would be like if my hand were to have extra layers of fat, as if I were a larger person or I perceived my body to be larger than it actually is. Below is the picture of this experiment:

The gold areas on the above picture are the Play-Doh manipulated areas and one thing I found from this experiment was that my hand / wrist were so much heavier even with that little amount of "fat" applied to them. 

This has opened doors with respect to weight (as in gravitational weight, kg, lbs etc) that I could explore for another experiment and possible final piece. Though I will have to consider how relevant it will be to design, and that it isn't crossing over into Art territory.