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Doll Parts: Artist brings Barbie and Ken to life using strippers and porn stars
07.12.2017
09:47 am
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One of photographer Alex Sandwell Kliszynski’s creepy real life Ken dolls.
 
Back in 2008, UK photographer Alex Sandwell Kliszynski somehow came up with the idea to create a series of photos depicting strippers and porn stars as if they were old-fashioned Barbie and Ken dolls. And the results are pretty creepy, to say the very least.

I sadly don’t have much more information on Kliszynski other than these bizarre photoshopped images of his real dolls that are missing their nipples and genitalia. I did manage to track down an article published by Jezebel that cited a quote from Ben Barna, now the Senior Digital Editor over on Nylon, who wrote about Kliszynski’s IRL Barbie dolls during his time with BlackBook magazine:

“When I was younger, playing with Barbie dolls was a big faux-pas. No matter how fascinated I was by their boundlessly bendable legs; you just didn’t do it (even though I did it). Finally, artist Alex Sandwell Kliszynski has created a series of dolls I can play with.”

So on that note, is it still NSFW to look at a photo of man or woman in the nude that is devoid of their private party-parts? I’m here to tell you that, yes, yes it is. Very much so. Enjoy!
 

 

 
More after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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07.12.2017
09:47 am
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Barbie Swiss Army knife
08.18.2015
11:09 am
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American parents have become increasingly nervous about sharp objects over the generations, and I think it’s time the culture eased up a bit. I’m not saying toddlers should be wielding machetes (although that is totally a thing in quite a few cultures), but a simple pocket knife was a pretty significant part of my own childhood (even if its actual use was limited to absentmindedly whittling sticks to points). At the same time, there are aspects of more traditionally “girly” toys that I think are great too, so why not combine them in one handy-dandy multi-tool/toy? Behold, the DIY Barbie Swiss Army knife, brought to you by Instructables user Mikeasaurus, who says of his unholy union:

Empower young girls to expand their horizons beyond playing with stereotypical gender reinforcing toys by combining a everyone’s favourite pink girl-centric doll with something a little stabby.

A multi-tool is hidden inside the torso of the Barbie, where the blades can be pulled out from a slit in her side. The body also separates at the waist to reveal a screwdriver hidden in the legs. The two halves of this doll are connected by magnets, so she holds together when fully assembled. Barbie never looked so good!

I doubt these are actually particularly safe for kids—a knife mounted in a doll’s abdomen is probably a bit less stable (and therefore more dangerous) than the knife alone, but it’s so darn cute and creepy, I may just have to make one to keep in my purse. You know… for protection.
 

 
Via Instructables

Posted by Amber Frost
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08.18.2015
11:09 am
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David Lynch voices a Barbie to accept an award for transcendental meditation because… David Lynch?
05.08.2015
11:08 am
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The films and television of David Lynch delight us with their strangeness, but they often pale in comparison to the man’s “extracurricular” projects. There’s the time he campaigned for Laura Dern’s Oscar by just hanging out in high traffic areas of Los Angeles with a giant sign and a live cow. There’s also the haunting public service announcement he did on New York City’s rat problem—pickup your garbage, people! His line of women’s sportswear was a great left turn, but dude has topped himself with this acceptance speech for his 2015 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award in recognition of his contributions to transcendental meditation.

Instead of just, you know, accepting the award, Lynch allowed “Trixie,” a Barbie doll shot in close-up, to serve as his proxy. In Lynch’s own voice, Trixie says her form of meditation consists of getting naked and “laying in the sun at the beach,” then Trixie and Lynch have a short dialogue. This comes not too long after Lynch used a Barbie in an ad for his signature line of coffee, but was asked by toy company Mattel Inc to take it down. I assume this use of Barbie poses no legal risk, as this is not a commercial, and merely a lovely moment of surreal play.
 

 
Via Welcome to Twin Peaks

Posted by Amber Frost
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05.08.2015
11:08 am
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Concept Barbie doesn’t just have realistic proportions—she has scars, acne, freckles & cellulite
11.19.2014
05:55 pm
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Acne
 
Graphic designer/amateur toymaker Nickolay Lamm plays with Barbies a lot. First he came up with the make-up-free Barbie—worrying that she was “a little bit too hypersexualized,” which is strange, since I see women walking around my neighborhood with a face fulla slap, and the kids don’t seem to be scarred from it. Then he came up with a “proportional” Barbie, whose body matched that of an average 19-year-old woman (according to the Center for Disease Control)—a noble aim, but I find it misguided, and a little patronizing.

I tend to think projects like this misjudge children’s intellect—not everything in a child’s play or fantasy world is somehow internalized like some kind of insidious timebomb of self-loathing, and while Barbie’s uncanny proportions certainly indicate something rotten about our perspective on women’s bodies, I honestly think their effect on little girls is negligible. I’d argue Barbie’s freaky shape and perpetual Tammy Faye Bakker-ish makeup is a symptom—but not the cause—of self-esteem problems with women and girls—but what do I know? I’m just a woman who grew up healthy and happy playing with Barbies! As I have said before:

On some level, hyper-realistic dolls are a bit silly anyways, since anyone who’s ever been around kids will admit you can draw a smiley face on a jar of pickles and they’ll play with it like a doll. In many parts of the world, dolls don’t attempt the detail of Barbie, and people don’t have to think about dolls’ “bodies.”

That being said, what children do like about dolls—far more than any adult-invented concept of body idealization—is interaction, and Lamm may have actually come up with something a little girl (or at least John Waters), might be really interested in playing with. The Lammily doll now comes with decals for acne, freckles, moles, blushing cheeks, scrapes, bruises, scars, stretch marks and even cellulite. I do believe children are better at distinguishing fantasy and reality than Lamm thinks, and I do not think little girls give two shits about the literalism of their dolls (I also played with pink unicorn dolls—they did not leave me disappointed with regular old brown horses, I assure you), but it is a scientifically proven fact that stickers and accessories are basically crack for kids!

Lamm says he “wanted to show that reality is cool,” and asks, “a lot of toys make kids go into fantasy, but why don’t they show real life is cool?” Maybe it’s because doll-play is literally a fantasy, in that children are animating an inanimate object! Kids will have plenty of time to contend with reality; they still play with dolls that “wet themselves,” for example, so the doldrums of domesticity have not lost their appeal to young eyes, even in the wake of Barbie and her Dreamhouse. I think Lamm should have a bit more faith in little girls—their intellectual independence and their critical reasoning skills—but playing with scars and bruises? That’s something I think they could get into, even if it’s not for the reasons he thinks.
 

Mole
 

Scrape
 

Scar
 

Cellulite
 

Stretch marks
 
Via TIME

Posted by Amber Frost
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11.19.2014
05:55 pm
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Sacrilicious! Our Barbie of Guadalupe meets Crucified Ken


 
The only two English words on the Facebook About page for Argentine art duo Pool & Marianela are “Lowbrow art.” Their portfolio is loaded with exquisitely detourned children’s toys, mostly Barbie and Ken dolls refashioned into Catholic icons. If you just rolled your eyes, I totally get why, but take a look at this stuff—this is no mad-at-daddy art student hack job. All the details in the garments and packaging are thoroughly considered and painstakingly well executed.
 

 

 
Unsurprisingly, the duo has sparked controversy in heavily Catholic Latin America. The works will be exhibited in Buenos Aires, starting on October 11, in a show called “Barbie, The Plastic Religion.” The pair are clearly quite keen to agitate—they’re also known for making inflatable punching bags of Argentine public figures.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Lastly, check out their St. George slaying a My Little Pony. I actually laughed aloud a little bit.
 

 
Via Latino Rebels

Previously on Dangerous Minds
Barbie doll created with average US woman’s measurements is repulsive hag
Skinhead Darby and Mohawk Ben:’ Hilariously ‘insider’ punk Barbie doll Parody from 1982

Posted by Ron Kretsch
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09.24.2014
08:41 am
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‘Skinhead Darby and Mohawk Ben,’ hilariously ‘insider’ punk Barbie doll parody from 1982
05.16.2014
12:37 pm
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The only information on this video is “From the show Cheeseball. From 1982 - beta.” In spite of way more time than was merited spent in searching, zero other data has been forthcoming. (YOU try googling “cheeseball” and see what you get.) But I really wish I could find something. If this is representative, “Cheeseball” must have been a great show. Who was doing anything even remotely like this in 1982?

This has it all—white rap, detournéd toys, downward spirals, teen prostitution, ladyscaping, The Motels, social diseases, pill popping, doll abortion, threeway sex—all in rhyming, metered stanzas. LA-based DM readers might hear a few local dog whistles.

It’s pretty brilliant. If anyone reading this can help nail down a source, please don’t keep it to yourself, use the comments section.
 

Posted by Ron Kretsch
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05.16.2014
12:37 pm
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Barbie doll created with average US woman’s measurements is repulsive hag
07.03.2013
10:17 am
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Barbie
I, for one, am baffled that anyone has sex with women at all.

Just kidding! She’s totally cute!

Artist Nickolay Lamm, who previously created “clean-faced” Barbies intended to look makeup-free, has gotton even more ambitious with his most recent conceptual Barbie project. Using the Center for Disease Control & Prevention’s measurements of an average 19-year-old woman, he has created a Barbie shaped like an actual person. Declaring, “we should at least be open to the possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls,” Lamm taps into a can of worms that’s been debated in parenting and feminist circles forever—when children use play to learn, is there really such thing as “just a doll?”

On some level, hyper-realistic dolls are a bit silly anyways, since anyone who’s ever been around kids will admit you can draw a smiley face on a jar of pickles and they’ll play with it like a doll. In many parts of the world, dolls don’t attempt the detail of Barbie, and people don’t have to think about dolls’ “bodies.” On the other hand, when a doll is produced with such an uncanny attention to detail, especially when it’s a hyper-stylized depiction of the sort of bodies ubiquitously heralded as “hot,” (and oh so rarely achieved via nature alone) you have to wonder if kids are internalizing the Barbie “body” as something attainable.

Regardless, it’s an interesting concept, and it says something about how deeply ingrained Barbie has become as an American icon that a realistic body makeover looks jarring and surreal.
 
Barbies
Barbie’s got back.


 
Via Bust

Posted by Amber Frost
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07.03.2013
10:17 am
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David Lynch sells coffee

image
 
An oldie but still freaky. David Lynch sells coffee. Which, for some reason, reminds me of Family Guy‘s Peter Griffin doing his Danny Aiello impression….
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds

David Lynch: ‘Ideas flow through like these beautiful little fish, and you catch them’


David Lynch’s hair compared to well-known paintings


 
With thanks to Krystin Ver Linden
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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01.27.2013
07:13 pm
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Celebrity Barbie and Ken Dolls
05.08.2011
10:16 am
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image
 
Donna Douglas, who played the “critter-loving bombshell Elly May Clampett” in the hit 1960s TV series The Beverly Hillbillies is suing Barbie manufacturers, Mattel over its Elly May Barbie doll. The actress filed a federal lawsuit, in Louisiana, which claims Mattel is “engaging in the unauthorized use of (her) name, likeness, image and attributes” as Elly May, as CNN reports:

Douglas never gave Mattel permission to market the doll or use her endorsement to promote it, according to court papers. Yet, the suit says, a photo of Douglas in character as Elly May is used in the packaging, and Mattel boasts in promotional material that the doll “captures the essence of the classic ‘60s TV character and show.”

Mattel said through a spokesman that the company “licensed the rights to ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ for this product through the appropriate channels.” Douglas’ attorney, Philip J. Shaheen, did not respond to requests for comment.

Douglas’ suit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 for each of four alleged violations of her right to control her public image, likeness, endorsements and publicity as Elly May Clampett, a character closely identified with her. She is demanding a jury trial.

The Daily Telegraph has published a gallery “of the other celebrity Barbie dolls that Mattel has produced over the years” and a “Top 10 Barbie Facts”:

1. Barbie’s real name is Barbie Millicent Roberts
2. She is from Willows, Wisconsin, and went to Willows High School
3. She was based on a German doll called Bild Lilli
4. Barbie is 52-years-old, having been introduced in 1959
5. The first Barbie doll cost $3 (£2)
6. She has had more than 50 pets.
7. Her boyfriend Ken first appeared in 1961
8. They split up in 2004 after 43 years
9. Barbie has had more than 80 careers including fashion model, Olympic athlete, astronaut and palaeontologist
10. She has run for the White House twice as “President Barbie”

A full selection of celebrity Barbies can be seen here.
 
image
Supergirl, Wonder Woman and Batgirl Barbies
 
image
Debbie Harry Barbie and Joan Jett Barbie
 
More celebrity Barbies and Kens after the jump…
 
Via the Daily Telegraph
 

READ ON
Posted by Paul Gallagher
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05.08.2011
10:16 am
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Barbie Vs. Karen Carpenter: We’ve Only Just Begun
09.24.2009
04:55 pm
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image
 
In collaboration with Mattel Toys, Universal just announced their plans to build a live-action film around Barbie:

?

Posted by Bradley Novicoff
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09.24.2009
04:55 pm
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