MARBIE LIFE IN THE DREAM HOUSE

MAY 2019

I wanted to continue my Marbie project from last semester. Marbie is a parody of Barbie. Last term I started the story behind the Marbie brand, I created three main dolls, and I played the character of the creator in the video I made. Once again looking at the Barbie brand for inspiration, I decided to build the dolls a dreamhouse and film a reality show. The main idea came from a series called Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse. Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse is already a parody of reality shows. 
I recycled my kitchen from last year to make the Dreamhouse. The Dreamhouse’s design is a very simple design. For the decoration I tried to stick to the same colour scheme, and I made the furniture so that it looks handmade like the dolls. The set is very simple too, however I did get a bit creative by doing a drip design for the sky and a spikey design for the grass. I lot from the design of the house and the dolls is inspired doodles and drawings I have made in the past which I would consider my personal style. 
Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse is quite light-hearted, however for my reality show I wanted it to have some dark themes and topics which are common in actual reality shows and the media. You often hear how the creators will manipulate the participants to fight with each other or will edit the footage is some way that will make certain participants look crazy. Reality shows involving children will often get criticised about how the sexualize them and make them live an adult lifestyle. 
In the two episodes I filmed I tried to make these themes fairly obvious, by moving their stuff while they are sleeping, making them fight over a guy and by giving them some alcohol when they are underage. Despite this the tone of the project is still humorous and childlike. 
Another theme that I explored, is the theme from the book, 1984. The subject of a government that is so controlling, is a something the I experience while living in China, even though it is not as extreme as the book the topic still intrigued me. There is already a reality show based on this concept (Big Brother) I used this as reference when planning out my show. In this case the creator is Big Brother and she is constantly controlling her dolls (literally) and watching them with cameras places around the house. For the exhibition the audience get to watch them through the tv screen and in real-life.
Apart from Ryan Trecartin, I have not come across many other artists that have explored the reality show topic. However, I have come across artists, the have explored the topic of media, one of them being Manu Luskch who I did an internship with. I helped her work on her on one of her videos which explores how people now days lack privacy because of the popularity of the internet. Frances Stark, is another artist which has explored this topic, her short film My Best Thing shows two animated characters having a conversation which is based on a conversation from a dating app. 
As social media grows, I feel like this topic is becoming more and more popular in the art world. Most of the artist I have come across and myself have explored this topic through film, each in our own style. As this theme becomes more popular, we might start seeing this theme in different mediums, I would like to start exploring robotics.
Based on previous experience the audience often find it hard to spot the darker themes in my work as it is so colourful and childlike. This time around I tried to make it easier for them to find without me having to explain too much, and without having to change my aesthetic. By watching the whole video, the audience can get an idea of what is going on, however even if they do not watch the video the set clearly shows that the dolls are getting drunk and having sex, and all of it is being filmed. 
I am happy that I’ve been able to star using some of my personal style on my sets, still there I feel like there is a lot a could do with my videos. I would have liked to have someone else filming me as I could not get the best angles with the tripod, I would have also liked to use a greenscreen and more animation.