40: Identity

When thinking about “The ID” and identity, I think about the harder side of it, like not knowing who you really are or what you really want in life. They say that an identity crisis occurs when a person fails to achieve ego identity during their adolescence. I like to think that Barbie is just in a very prolonged Fugue State. A Fugue State is where a person loses their identity for whatever length of time and their personality, memories, and other identifying characteristics just kind of go away in a reversible amnesia. When someone is in a Fugue State they usually travel or wander somewhere entirely new and establish an entirely new identity. Barbie is everywhere all over the world with a different identity in each individual location. Her identity is new in each place and her personality is given to her and the memories attached to her are unique to each person she belongs to. The whole brand of Barbie is that she’s basically a young girl’s best friend and her identity is what the owner wants it to be and this helps a child develop their own identity. Most girls playing with dolls make them similar to themselves or maybe make them what they wish they were like or want to be like when they get older. Barbie is given whatever personality and imaginary life a child chooses and that’s it. But there’s that one Barbie that is on all of the boxes, talks in all of the videos, and even has a Twitter account. This is the original Barbie with the real personality and the primary identity. All of the other Barbies around the world are her in a Fugue State. When those dolls are forgotten about or outgrown by their owners who have established their own identities through assigning one to their toy, the Fugue State is over but the original Barbie can not recall the memories during that time or the identity that was assigned to her. This is just a weird idea I came up over the past couple of days since we got this directive. I’m not sure how much sense it makes but Fugue States are actually real and one of the most fascinating mental illnesses I’ve ever read about.

19: Sandwich

39: The ID

Identity to me means all the differences between each person that makes us all individuals. One of the most obvious things that is different on every single person is their finger print. I used my thumb print and pink paint to make the Barbie logo silhouette. Barbie is something super generic that has been duplicated millions of times but this is made of something that has been repeated but has only existed and will only exist once ever. Another thing I thought about is how their are a million Barbie dolls that are exactly the same but they’re all in different little hands, covered in different finger prints, given different personalities and voices and imaginary lives. So all Barbies are different in a way and that’s why so many little girls are attached to their dolls and even grown women still make a connection to the Barbie doll but also to the Barbie brand.

34: Sheep

(made by me)

When I thought of sheep I thought of counting sheep when you’re trying to fall asleep which then made me think of a bed which led me to think of pillows. When I sleep, I grind my teeth really badly and give myself the worst headaches. On top of that it’s just really bad for your teeth. So then I thought about teeth being made of pillows. You can’t grind pillow teeth and you also can’t eat solid food with them. So not only would I stop grinding my teeth but I’d also stop eating and get Barbie skinny.

32: Catalyst

 

(drawing by me, letter clippings from magazines, arranged by me)

So here is the first part of the little zine I’m making. This page is about the issue of sizeism in today’s society and the issues surrounding women and their weight. Barbie is not even remotely a close representation of the average woman. She would be considered anorexic if she were to be a real woman and her throat would actually only be able to hold her trachea or her esophagus.  Breathing or eating, pick one girlfriend (I have a good guess). A majority of women have this ridiculous expectation in their mind of what they “should” look like and it’s pretty close to Barbie almost every time. In reality, you can’t look like that. Diets don’t work. Exercising constantly can only take you so far. Fat people are fat and it’s nobody’s fucking business but theirs. No one actually cares about a fat person’s health when they criticize them, they’re just pissed off that they’re fat and even worse if they’re content with it. You can’t tell if someone is healthy by the way they look. You don’t have any idea what health issues a person does or does not have just by putting them on a scale or comparing them to what you think looks “good” and “normal.” Fat people can be beautiful and healthy and everything that anybody else can be. Stop being an asshole.

28: Neptune

(made and photographed by me)

Neptune → space → solar system → planets → size → massive → shape → circle → round → body → stomach → fat → Barbie → belly → round objects → seasonal → Halloween → pumpkin

The shape of the planet Neptune inspired me to change the shape of Barbie which is really cliché and done but instead of just making her fat I just replaced her entire midsection with a pumpkin. I carved out the inside of the pumpkin and then popped off all of Barbie’s limbs and attached them. Her head is still attached to her body and I just stuck it all the way through the pumpkin. It’s really weird to me because the pumpkin is the exact same height as her actual plastic torso. Her legs seem so disproportional and weird when her abdomen is a pumpkin but in reality, they’re just as disproportionate to her original plastic body. Barbie now has a change of body shape but is also pretty creepy to go along with the holiday spirit.

31: Catalyst

(created by me)

catalyst → reaction → change → progress → improvement → equality → Barbie → women → feminism → zine

I’m going to make a little zine as part of my Project 54 posts. Some will be multiple pages in one post but others will be separated in to other posts and directives. It will focus on women’s equality and progress. This is the cover!

30: Catalyst

(photo by me)

catalyst → reaction → substance → chemical → drugs → increased speed → cocaine → snort → Barbie

25: Engineer

Barbie → girls → hormones → neurotransmitters → emotions → smiling → chemicals → catalyst structure → brain → norephinephrine → serotonin → dopamine → endorphins → moods → happiness → constant → permanent

Happiness is chemicals in your brain. Barbie either has a naturally high amount of these substances in her brain, she’s medicated, or constantly on drugs. Or maybe she has another chemical in her brain that nobody else has. Or maybe nothing is in her head at all because she’s a fucking doll. But I still feel like she’s mocking me with the smile on her face.

15: Opposite

(images from google arranged by me)

Barbie → brand → “good girl” → ideal → proper → perfect → maintain appearance → opposite → smoking → cigarettes