We are what we eat- are we also what we play with? Australian artist Freya Jobbins asks questions about modern consumerism with her strange portraits made of doll parts. She states that “the irony of my plastic works is that I take a material that was created to be touched, and I make it untouchable as an artwork.”
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| Freya Jobbins with her dollies/raw materials |
Jobbins' disturbing busts generate a lot of thought about what our expectations about children, forms of play, the nature of visual and tactile nurture, and children's imagination.
Some of these questions are discussed in a recent Wall Street Journal article about the newest generation of interactive, talking dolls.
The description of six year old Riley's interaction with Hello Barbie (a.k.a., chatterbot, talkbot, chatbot, Bot, chatterbox, Artificial Conversational Entity) provides no evidence of learning, imagination nor enlightenment. In addition, most of these dolls are marketed to girls...apparently an appropriate subject for experimentation. Wi-Fi enabled, Hello Barbie and her owner's privacy is, of course, compromised.
Here's Hello Barbie's New York City iridescent magenta launch!
HELLO Barbie Doll has been released! She retails for just under $75 and is for ages 6 and up. You will need access to an Android or Apple device in order to download the app to get her to work. She also needs to be hooked up to your home wi-fi network to function.
After viewing this Hello Barbie review, Jobbins' freakish busts look incredibly charming.....
