It’s plastic. Not what I was expecting…
The Sylvanian Dolls House I ordered from Amazon. The one I rushed home early to intercept from the postman. The dolls house that looked so pretty on the front of the Sylvanian box but, so artificial in real life.
Maybe I should have gotten a Victorian-looking wooden one from E-bay. My dolls house feels–wrong. Also, it’s shiny. That has to be bad.
The word ‘plastic’ always reminds me of the famous quote from the 1967 movie ‘The Graduate’. Twenty-something Benjamin (actor Dustin Hoffman) is pulled to the side and given the following advice by his “elder” Mr McGuire:
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
It turned out to be one of those funny but true movie lines. Benjamin should have went for it, as supposedly by 1968, plastics took the stock market by storm.
And the world. Every single toy that I can remember owning from the 1970’s was plastic. My Barbie dolls, their accessories, even Barbie’s shoes. My Easy Bake oven. All my board game pieces. My ‘View-Master’. The ‘Sit and Spin’ I spun around on. The list goes on and on. I didn’t seem to mind. Actually, this post made me wonder what materials were used before the plastic boom…(see link at bottom)
As I wanted an affordable dolls house, it probably had to be made out of cheap materials. Factory production (whether we like it or not) lowers prices.
I come from a place in America that builds the most mass- produced product in the world: the automobile. The homes that sprung up so quickly in Flint, Michigan are a legacy of mass-production.
So, perhaps the materials used to contruct my dolls house should have a direct link to the mass- produced, now discarded homes that I photograph and animate.
But I was hoping to cut into the dolls house and experiment with Gordon Matta-Clark like interventions. I can get someone to laser cut a hole for me as it’s plastic. But it wouldn’t be my performative action. So, what do I do with my dolls house? More about that in my next post.
http://www.chemweek.com/chem_ideas/Rebecca-Coons/M…
http://scheong.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/before-the…
