December 29, 2011

"'Barbie Trashes Her Dreamhouse' is a series of photos of a Barbie-sized house, in which Barbie is a hoarder..."

"...and the place is stuffed full of shopping bags, pizza boxes, newspapers, and other debris, all in realistic miniature form. It's the work of artist Carrie M. Becker..."

Oh, Barbie!

35 comments:

Scott M said...

What is it about dollhouses and little girls? My sons showed no interest in "houses" for their toys. We got a vanilla cowgirl and horse for my 4-year-old for Christmas as sort of a "added value" gift just to keep the package count equal across the sibs. She looked at the back of the box, saw the house that's part of that collection and instantly started harping on it.

One thing I've noticed, though. While my daughters' room might be a disaster area, the dollhouse is always immaculately clean.

Wince said...

I'd've thought Barbie would have a dildo in the house given Ken's "smoothness".

Bob_R said...

Scott - Does your son (or do you) have a model train set?

Scott M said...

YEP! We got the 2-year-old the Imaginarium train table set for Christmas. I spent two hours putting it together on Christmas Eve so it would be displayed when they came down Christmas morning. So far, he loves it. Although, truth be told, so does the 4-year-old girl. If you sit and listen she will act out entire epics, doing all the parts (some of it surprisingly dark) herself.

I'm very happy with the purchase. Best $108 I've spent in a long time.

Pastafarian said...

I thought maybe this was one of those situations where a photographer had taken a photo of a full-size scene, but made it look miniature, by some trick of focus.

That's a genre now -- I started seeing it online about a year ago. I don't know the name of it, though.

But I'm not sure if it would work on this level, though -- usually you'll see train yards that will look like a toy train set.

Ann Althouse said...

"But I'm not sure if it would work on this level, though -- usually you'll see train yards that will look like a toy train set."

Somebody should make an app that makes your photos of full-scale things look like miniature models.

Joe Schmoe said...

it's called tilt-shift photography, and there is an online site where you can convert your photos to look like this.

I don't have a link to the tool right now, but here's a link to some good tilt-shift examples:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/16/beautiful-examples-of-tilt-shift-photography/

edutcher said...

Boys used to have forts ans stuff for their cowboy and Indians, Army men, etc., but they were usually littered with casualties.

MayBee said...

Somebody should make an app that makes your photos of full-scale things look like miniature models.

These apps exist! Pudding can be used for this, as can Toy Camera.

Ann Althouse said...

"Pudding can be used for this, as can Toy Camera."

Thanks!

Is there an app that makes photos of real people look like life-like robots?

Joe Schmoe said...

Here's an online tool:
tiltshiftmaker.com

DADvocate said...

Damn. Instead of taking all my daughter's old Barbie stuff to Goodwill, I could have been an artist. I would have gone for the brothel look.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Wow! the painstaking detail that went into that project!

Then there is always:

Bag Lady Barbie and Wino Ken for the less talented and more impatient of us.

Pastafarian said...

Joe Schmoe -- thanks. I knew someone here would know what this was called.

I had no idea that they were edited -- I thought it was some special focusing technique of the photographer. Now I'm trying to think of how I could use this for promotional materials for our business.

It seems to work best in wide-angle landscapes with vehicles and people in the shot. I bet Althouse has quite a few photos that could be altered this way and would look really interesting.

Phil 314 said...

artist?

Bob_R said...

I think girls go more for interior environments and boys for exterior when playing with miniatures. Props add more to interior environments. Though, I can remember getting a particularly cool sheet metal castle one Christmas morning. (I certainly remember my father reminding me about it every time I had to put together a "some assembly required" kit for my kids.)

Joe Schmoe said...

Pasta, you can do it in Photoshop but I don't know how. Googling tilt-shift will lead to a lot of good info and tips. I've never used it for professional images but my kids and I have had fun in the past with the tiltshiftmaker.com tool. You're right that certain pictures work better than others.

Joe Schmoe said...

Why is there a lack of interest in contemporary art? Here's Exhibit A. It's a lot of work, skillfully done and all that, but ultimately it's a big wagging finger admonishing us about what commercialism hath wrought, and how our shiny exteriors belie the rot within. Yawn.

Inspire me. Enlighten me. Don't lecture me.

Scott M said...

Inspire me. Enlighten me. Don't lecture me.

I thought the walking rollercoster was pretty cool. Was it a secretly ironic piece the artist was using to show how much energy we waste?

Anonymous said...

This isn't art, she's just copying what I do as a hobby -- setting up and photographing macabre or poignant playmobil scenes.

Joe said...

Looks like my ex-wife's house, only hers is filled with much cheaper shit.

The Crack Emcee said...

'Barbie Trashes Her Dreamhouse'

That's about all she's good for nowadays,...

Jose_K said...

Boys used to have forts ans stuff for their cowboy and Indians.. i built a full town of the west (and a natives camp) basically with thootsticks( and paper for the teppes, we called that way the tents)including bar with swinging doors , and a hanging device.

Scott M said...

What's a thootstick and where can I get them? Are they good for picking doof out of your theet?

Joe Schmoe said...

They're for holding up the teppes.

gerry said...

Art.

We live in the Weimar Republic.

coketown said...

When did Barbie become to toys what Jews are to people--the hapless victim of relentless prejudice, hatred, and caricaturing?

The feminists hate her. The race-baters hate her. The Big is Beautiful herd (moo!) hates her. Now the anti-consumerists hate her. Doubtless, many of Barbie's biggest fans of yesteryear are harboring her in their attics as we speak. So sad.

coketown said...

And when did art become to culture what dogshit is to my back yard--a blight of dubious value?

Art really has become the Special Olympics of passionate endeavors. This idiot gets a blue ribbon of recognition just for trying something. Are we really calling any expense of prolonged, tedious effort art nowadays? It boggles the mind.

Plus the idiot's message is a strawdoll: this is, like, ALL of Barbie's alter-egos stuffed into one dreamhouse. Barbie doesn't consume to the extent this woman is trying to say she does. She is slandering Barbie's reputation, so that so many years as a selfless, commendable veterinarian/doctor/reporter/biologist/computer programmer/housewife/schoolteacher is reduced to something so base, so vile. So sad.

Jennifer said...

I'm trying to understand why this is a more "current" view of Barbie. Because the hapless packrats on Hoarders are often beautiful young women with 18" waists?

Jennifer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennifer said...

Wow, the tilt-shift photography is fascinating. The pictures at Joe Schmoe's link really do look like toy miniatures. But, why...?

I had to go tilt-shiftify a pic I took in Salzburg last week.

jungatheart said...

"She is slandering Barbie's reputation, so that so many years as a selfless, commendable veterinarian/doctor/reporter/biologist/computer programmer/housewife/schoolteacher is reduced to something so base, so vile. So sad."

Preach it, Coketown. The artist is obviously jealous.

jungatheart said...

That's a neat pic, Jennifer. I think some uses are for things like creating miniatures in doll houses, art journaling, etc.

http://www.stampington.com
/html/art_journaling_w09.html

rcocean said...

Later, GI Joe kills Ken, rapes Barbie and forces her to clean up her Pig-sty.

And now you know the rest of the story...

Banshee said...

Little boys love castle sets, the Death Star playsets, all that stuff. Just the other day, a blogger posted a photo of an old D&D castle playset, and the four year old son of one of his comboxers saw it. Instantly he was fascinated and demanded one, and his dad had to try and convince him that the thing hadn't been produced for at least twenty-five years....