a furry something

I made a toy with fur and filled it with sand. The legs are made with a thinner cotton fabric and filled with sand too. This makes the toy tactile. I have been worrying lately because most of the work i have done in the past has been cutsie and sweet. I was quite disappointed once i started making. To make something NOT cute is quite a challenge for me.


















































I went to my previous college (Wigan & Leigh) to meet my friends and discuss my ideas with the faculty. I was talking to my faculty about my concerns - not being able to create anything not cute. I showed them the toy and to my surprise, the first reaction i got was "EEEEEEEEEEEE WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" apparently it looked like a dead rat or some dead creature and the fact that it was heavy because of the sand, it felt more and more like a real creature. I noticed the tendency to pull on the fur and squeeze the sand filled legs. She called it sick but didnt part with it for a long time either:)I then decided to show it to some of the students. The reactions were overwhelming. It felt great each time someone looked at it and said 'what the hell!' or 'thats just gross' or 'its really creepy-it looks like a hybrid of a caterpillar,cow and a rat' or 'disgusting'. they also said they didnt know if it was meant for children:)I was soo relieved at their reactions.
it worked well without facial attributes.
the fur evokes tugging/pulling.
the fact that it heavy makes it seem a bit realistic.
the sand filled legs makes one want to press/squeeze.
this was interesting- they determined the head and the rear end of the toy based on the direction of the fur:)

some experimentation

In the first toy, I used fur for the body, and the stuffing is the rubber squishy purple toy i bought. For the legs, i used cotton fabric and used sand for the filling.


















































I used cotton fabric and filled it with sand.


















































I made the same thing in white fur and filled it with polyfill, and the head is filled with sand. The body is light weight and the head(red part)is slightly heavy and droopy.

Material exploration

I visited Raja market, JC road, Kalasipalya to buy some material. From Raja market, i bought fake fur which cost me between Rs.150-200 per metre.
From Kalasipalya, i bought waste scraps of cloth which was sold by the kg. One pile was of waste cotton cloth scraps which cost Rs.50/kg, another pile was of banyan scraps which cost Rs.16/kg. These looked so colorful and eye catching and i was really curious about what its used for. It's used by mechanics/drivers to clean.
From JC Road, i bought artificial leather upholstry for Rs.120/mtr.
I also got some waste coir which they use as stuffing for matresses.
I got a sample piece of industrial carpet to experiment.

1.artificial fur
2.cotton cloth scraps
3.banyan cloth scraps
4.coir
5.industrial carpet
6.artificial leather



































































































































I used a couple of things as stuffing just to try out. I used slime(which i bought at the toy store),polyfill,sand,a rubber squeezy toy and scraps of waste cloth.

texture exploration

Here's some textures i tried to create with some waste fabric i had.

Some of the old toy concept sketches i had done earlier. These concepts were for toys that require interaction which is harmful play but looks violent to an onlooker. After this i wanted to completely break out of the conventional idea of 'cute' so my output ideas completely changed. I will be uploading my newer sketches very soon.






































































I will be exploring more on the lines of these:

Creepy kewpies

For the video, i will be shooting objects from a child's world. The object,ots angle,interaction/movement,context,cropping,tempo/speed etc will try to show the object in a different perspective.I want the video to evoke thoughts in the mind of the viewer. These objects will be toys,the way the food/plate is left after a meal,shoes, frayed toothbrush etc. Today, i was trying to photograph the kewpie dolls as an experiment for the video. I clearly got carried away in the process.











She used to look prettier back in the day:

final output?

So i have decided on 2 things as my final output:

1. Toys for children(age:5-7 yrs)that have had an overdose of cute and are sick of it. The toys will not be made with the intention of selling but more like an experimental art project at this point. These will be made out of fabric. I am currently exploring material/textures/fillings.

2. If things work out as planned i also want to create a short video. This will have me interact with existing toys in an unconventional manner. This video is about breaking out of stereotype interactivity and about perspective. Toys can be viewed differently(not just cute or associated with children).The way one interacts with an object changes its meaning.

Workshop with MAIS kids

I conducted a workshop along with Nandini http://ludicrouscombinations.tumblr.com/ with 8 prep class kids at Mallya Aditi school. I gave them hand sewn creatures and other dolls along with craft material. They were asked to pick a doll/creature and give it super powers or make it special. They were given 45 minutes. It was wonderful. Although most of what they talked about or made had to do with death and poison and monsters.

One of the girls made a poisonous cake and told me 'if u eat it you be dead, if you touch it your hands will become invisible'. She made this with the material provided of which clay seemed to be the most important ingredient. She said 'if u eat clay you be dead. my grandfather ate clay and he died.' Then the other kids heard this and elaborated on the topic. One said, 'my grandfather is also dead', another said, 'mines in heaven' and another said 'my grandfather died because of heart atta-tack. heart atta-tack is when something happens and your heart doesnt work and you cant even talk and breathe.'

What was really interesting is that when i showed some adults the 'kewpie doll'(the naked baby),they said it was quite creepy and that they doubt the kids would play with it. some said the face was fine but the body and the face put together made it look repulsive and didn't evoke 'love' feelings. whereas, during the workshop, about 5 kids(4 girls + 1 boy)picked them up and used it in their activity. This made me think about perception a lot more. Adults and children have different perceptions of cute and ugly. I also noticed that when a child spoke about his toy, it would most often influence the others. This was evident in the way they described their toy.

A girl was painting a baby doll red. and instantly one of them said, 'the baby has blood everywhere' and everyone joined in to talk about the bleeding baby. and after a few minutes she looked up and said 'its Spiderman'.
Although there were some who made rangoli, a puppy named biscuit, a watch and other not so gorey things.
Here's what they created:

The little ones at work:

Here's some drawings done by the prep class. These were pinned on the soft board. They all had a little writeup which started with 'I wish i was....'
These are lovely

The best toy ever would be...

During the 8 month interactive toy lab last year, we conducted a drawing workshop with Mallya Aditi's prep class. Here we asked the kids to draw a toy they would like to have(the best toy!). We returned the drawings to the children but here's some of the toys they drew and explained to us:

1. Toy that gives me 3 wishes(Candy world, Characters come to life,Go to space
anytime).
2. My toy can make me whatever I want.
3. A cool car that shrink so small it can fit in my pocket.
4. A jersey that will make me win all the time.
5. When I play a game on my PS, it should come out and give me a prize.
6. A sword that can turn into a rocket and cut people.
7. Can slide into the TV and meet Mickey and Minnie.
8. TV can give me whatever I want.
9. I have a tree house which has a spell-whenever parents come there they have to listen to whatever I say.
10. A volcano that creates lava that I can touch.
11. A flying carpet-I like to fly.
12. A magic kite that goes wherever I ask it to go.
13. Magical dressing table- when I press a button the fairy/wand comes and dresses me up and takes me wherever I go.
14. A toy that makes wands-the wand turns all people who use bad words into a frog.

the story game

During a workshop with the prep kids at Mallya Aditi School, we played a little game with them. It was a game where we made chits with a sentence or a word on it, and the children would continue the story from there. And as they shouted different things, i put them all down as options. Some answers were really unexpected. It was an interesting experiment:)

1.There was once a boy and a girl. The boy’s name was Tom. He was 13 yrs old. He lived in the woods because__________
-he had a tree house

2.House was made of__________
-metal and bricks
-made a house out of wood and tied it on the tree
-can draw water from the well without coming down

3.What’s in his house?
-kitchen
-dog
-cat
-wood

4.He could make 3 wishes__________
-he wants a PSP
-He wanted a watch
-He wanted a new pillow

5.And then suddenly!__________
-he was chased by a fox,elephant

6.How did he escape?
-ran to a stranger
-took a ladder and climbed up the house

7.There came a monster. The name of the monster was__________
-Max

8.The moster was sad because__________
-he had big feet
-nobody was his friend
-lost his PSP

9.Then came a Magical animal__________
-dragon

10.What magical powers did the dragon have?
-it could fly
-throw smoke
-fire
-hop on one leg

11.The boy took out a weapon__________
-sword
-Whats a weapon

12.The little girl was really happy. When she drank the magic potion__________
-she had special powers to fight
-to run fast
-to cook fast
-after few days wont it get over?
-she could break a spoon
-change her body colors
-a dress that can change colors
-She could change into different monsters

13.They also had a pet. The name of the pet was__________
-Jack
-Ben 10
-Spike

14.Spike could__________
-fly
-make ribbons
-dig very fast
-if he digs fast, he can find a golden bone
-could disguise himself as a creature
-go on a magic escalator(like tom going to heaven on magic escalator in Tom & Jerry)

15.They wanted to save__________
-their lives
-mother and father
-animals that were in the woods

16.And then suddenly__________
-tiger and rhino came
-a spikey Leapord came
-wild animals came around the treehouse and tried to bite it

17.Even the witch came and planned to__________
-Destroy them
-put them in jail
-eat them decided to be their mother
-pretended she was good

18.And in the end__________
-witch ate them up
-witch became an eagle
-boy and girl sat in the car and went to the zoo
-boy and girl pushed the witch down and and the animals ate her
-parrot carried the witch and flew away
-and then full stop