Talah's crime scene:bleeding raspberries

Some really striking images i found on the blog.
http://jenarthurphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/talahs-room-crime-scene-raleigh.html These are just the cutest things and at the same time NOT.
bleeding raspberries everywhere.

flying caterpillar

I made a little something with some cotton fabric, sand, feathers ,thread and a twig. My idea of a flying caterpillar:)

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