Skipper’s Dreamhouse (2018)

Sculpture

Barbie doll, yarn, newspaper, film prints, acrylic paint, Arduino, 1’ x 1’ x 1.5’

Class: Interactivity and Computation, Fall 2018

Contributors: Olivia Cunnally

This project was an experimental one, as my professor (Golan Levin) had never assigned a project using Arduino before. There weren’t many limits to what we could create. The only guideline was to make a physical, interactive “automaton,” which in the process must teach us how to use sensors and moving pieces in our artwork—and may contain a creepy element, if desired, as the due date was right after Halloween.

Embracing the opportunity, Skipper’s Dreamhouse is a Halloween-inspired Barbie Dreamhouse, created by Barbie’s little sister, Skipper. At a far distance, the door is triggered open; and once the viewer "comes to play," a deconstructed Barbie is triggered and pops up after a random period of time, hopefully scaring the viewer. My partner and I joked that it could represent somewhat of a critique on Barbie and the stigma surrounding her. The Skipper doll was designed as a shorter, brunette, and less skinny (but still quite skinny) version of Barbie, an effort to combat the body image controversy that the original Barbie started. Skipper’s fantasy includes her sister sans torso to represent Skipper’s (and society’s) resentful feelings about Barbie—Skipper has always been less than and therefore jealous of Barbie, so Skipper decided to bring Barbie “back to normal” by removing her body (her appeal).