One evening, when Carly’s neighbours, Noa and Pini, were over, they noticed there were seven Barbies in lilac outfits that were peeping over the top of the TV. Noa told Carly that her collection of Barbies displayed in this way was kinky, and they both laughed. In fact, she did go on quite a bit about it, and Pini privately reprimanded Noa for embarrassing Carly. Far from being embarrassed, Carly had delighted in Noa’s judgement, and both felt relieved. But this did give Carly an idea. It stemmed from the photographic project she did of Carlos who is an embroidered pink toy dog. Maybe she needs to take these seven Barbies around Jaffa and take a series of fun photographs to create an album? Carly has a new obsession. Oh but don’t worry about Carlos missing out. He has already been photographed all around Padua, Limoges and Oslo.
Carly had bought the fake Barbies in Highbury, North London for extra decoration when she had an open house to display her sabbatical purple, prime number and spiral makes. She had her doors open for four days, from dawn to dusk, and welcomed over 150 guests. They were all allowed to choose a piece and take it home after the end of the show. Carly had festooned purple bunting outside between street lamp posts and her railings whilst tying up 13 purple helium balloons by her front door. She offered purple sweets and drinks, music, and in return, visitors needed to fill in wise and kind (compulsory!) words in a book. The pandemic had delayed this exhibition and Carly, who needed to carry on with her creative journey, made even more things. This helped her reconcile her very angry feelings towards lockdown.
Besides the bunting, she made hanging room dividers, dyed a hammock and made a macrame holder for her favourite tradescantia plant. This had very long hanging strands. What better or kinkier than hanging seven Barbies by their legs under this plant? It certainly provided humour as well as derision.
The Barbies arrived in the shipment to Jaffa, but Carly wasn’t initially sure what to do with them, so she placed them behind the TV. But now she has an idea. Like a crazy woman she raced around Jaffa photographing them in all sorts of places. In coffee shops, in plant pots and in the pet shop, balancing on cat collars there. She took close up shots and from a distance. Always all seven together. Then Tova had an idea. “Let’s put them underneath an oncoming train”, she suggested. For sure, no one would get hurt as the train would easily clear them. But, wisely, Tova went to speak to the driver so he wouldn’t worry.
Carly thought this had been a splendid project, but it was a one-off. But no! Once Carly is on a mission, she finds it hard to put on the brakes. She saw a Barbie in a lilac furry coat whilst travelling to see her son Tobes for a short break in Thessaloniki. He was very unenthused about Carly insisting on bringing ‘Furry-Coat Barbie’ on all their outings and adventures. As it happened, they did quite a lot of different things, so he was saved from his weird and embarrassing mother. Carly’s favourite place to take Furry-Coat Barbie was the Museum of Deception and Illusion. There she needed to persuade the staff to take photos of them together in all manner of poses. She did manage to take one photo of this Barbie with Tobes when they were having cocktails on a pirate ship. The next day, all three went to the beach. Joy of joys. Carly found a ‘Mermaid Barbie’ to buy for her next holiday.
Carly went, as usual, to Lemnaradis for her biannual yoga and writing retreat but this time took Mermaid Barbie. She was photographed by the sea, sunsets and in a variety of kitchen equipment. Carly managed to persuade both deer and peacocks on Moni Island to be in her photographs with Mermaid Barbie.
Carly was now on a roll and actively looking for Barbies. But that is when you are least likely to find them, so you just have to think right outside of the box. On her way down to a family weekend away in Sandbanks, she found a sweet dispenser she named ‘Pez Barbie’. “She’s really called ‘Princess Peach’”, her niece, Braiens, told her. She had no idea trainee lawyers would know such things. “Well, I never”, Carly snickered to herself. This Pez Barbie found herself buried in sand, seaweed and drowned in glasses and vases of water. Not so good for anyone who wanted to flick back her neck to reveal some soggy sweets! On the last day, she and Braiens went on the bus and chain-link ferry to Studland Bay. The tattooed driver was happy to get involved in Carly’s photography antics. As was Braiens’ brother. Not so Carly’s own children.
Later that summer, Carly was returning from seeing Sandra in Berwick-upon-Tweed and stopped to meet an old colleague in York on the way. They went to eat in a historic house with a rather wonderful shop. Carly found six ‘Drinks-Markers Barbies’ called Sassy, Kellee, Chrystal, Candice, Ginger and Lacey. They were only 4 cm in height, had enormous breasts and had their names emblazoned on their bikini bottoms. Carly decided they would be a good addition to the Barbie retinue. And they were all photographed in hospital between seeing patients. Carly got rather carried away and put them in, under and on medical equipment such as vomit bowls, bladder syringes and specula. She also pierced them with cannulas and lumbar puncture needles as well as sewing them into blue medical masks. Her friends Noumi and Sol didn’t have a very clear number sign for their house. So, Carly bought a square box frame, painted a huge number, 14 and speared all the Drinks-Master Barbies with a huge spinal needle and placed them all in the corner at the bottom. She’s sure they can cope as they are both medics.
In India, Carly bought some bindi spots and placed one on a Barbie there. She took ‘Bindi Barbie’ (after checking with Noumi who is Hindu that it wasn’t too politically incorrect) all around Pushkar. Everyone she asked was delighted to be photographed with her. The cows too, but they didn’t give informed consent! Whilst there she bought an outfit that Shiva (a Hindu god) would wear. Back in Israel, ‘Shiva Barbie’ hurtled around Ra’anana, having photos taken with her stuck in flowers and plants, on playground equipment and on people’s garden gates unbeknownst to them!
By now, Carly had amassed quite a collection of Barbies and was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of them. Her friend, Sarabeth, was throwing out two rather nice wooden trays. Debby, another friend, suggested she take them and start making some Barbie installations. So, another craze began. Carly managed to fix the seven original Barbies on the two trays. Some were attached using plastic hooks around their necks and others were laying down. One of them ended up being squeezed into a defunct clock. She really did look creepy. But “This is all in the name of art”, Carly told herself.
Outside her apartment, Carly found some discarded, slightly damaged large canvases. Being resourceful and trying to keep a sort of eye on her expenses, Carly quickly brought them inside. She easily repaired them and painted the largest one a luscious Barbie pink. Now for a community project. Every time some came round, they had to choose one of 15 Barbies, decide her pose and position her on the canvas. Then Carly would sew her in with waxed thread. Everyone loved doing this. Apart from one person who sneered and declined. However, by taking the canvas on and off the wall, 15 times meant the wall hook loosened. Crash and down the canvas and all the Barbies fell. This meant the waxed thread ripped through the canvas and they were now all rather wobbly. But luckily, as Carly was able to avert disaster by inserting small blocks of wood, it lived to tell another tale.
Jesus and Christina came round one afternoon. They were upfront and honest about the gift they had brought. It had been passed on several times. It was an amazing box that contained unbelievably sweet treats from Algeria. They sample them all but, in the end, most went out on the street. However, the box was beyond sumptuous with a cork backing. Carly imprisoned four small Barbies with drawing pins and sock yarn. There was then a debate. “Why don’t you call it ‘Trafficked-Barbies’, Carly,” Yasmeen suggested. But Jesus countered that it narrowed down the viewer’s interpretation. Carly is in a quandary. She, not only, wants to please her friends, but hates it when artists are too lazy to give their piece a title and call it ‘untitled’. She isn’t sure where to go. For the moment, she will leave it as ‘Imprisoned Barbies’. And how much do people want to be told what is in front of them and how much they should infer for themselves? Oh, these existential questions that should bother Carly. “Nah”, she says, “Not that much of the time!”
One evening, Carly went to a painting event. They were all to do their own version of Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Hummingbird with a red flower’. Carly feels her one could benefit from a bit of ‘Barbiefying’. So, she adds yellow feathers to the bird, some jewels for his eyes and enhances his beak by adding a long, black, shiny hair clip. By this stage she can only use a pair of Barbie shoes as the dolls have all been spoken for. She glues them in the centre of the canvas. She calls this piece ‘Barbie escapes from the beak of a hummingbird by a hare’s breath’. So much for leaving the viewer free-range to interpret her art in a way that is meaningful for them!
She was saved from her dearth of Barbies by her friend, Jen, who sourced a load more Barbies for free. Oh no. What direction now for Carly? She has made clothes for three Barbies to represent each of the monotheistic religions. She started with Nun Barbie, moved onto Frummer (orthodox Jewish) Barbie and finished with Palestinian Muslim Barbie complete with a hand knitted cardigan and delicately embroidered clothes. Then she moved onto ‘Disco Barbie’ who dances herself silly with 13 silver balls. This was followed by some Rainbow Barbies who were attached to a stiff card with multicoloured glitter glue from a gun and then placed top to toe inside an old wooden tea caddy. And a Barbie who was punch-needled onto a canvas using black yarn to encase her in a ‘multicoloured dream coat’ made from rainbow dyed unspun fleece.
One of her final (well probably not really final!) pieces is possibly Carly’s favourite. Barbie is wearing a short T-shirt dress with ‘Femme and Fierce’ emblazoned on the front. However she is skiing, so Carly knitted her a headband, arm and leg muff to keep her warm. She is on a rainbow slalom run marked behind her with upright tubes of beads placed in a rainbow colour sequence and in front of her with a rainbow ribbon. Instead of skis she has whisks which are drawn by two small pink horses. This piece has a rigid title made with Carly’s trusty labelling machine. ‘Barbie attempts horse-led, kitchen rainbow slalom’. Carly feels, however well she explains this piece, maybe it just needs to be seen…
She is planning to have an exhibition. And she’d like to sell her work. And, of course, she has other ideas too. She’d like to crochet a purple outfit for Ken and a ball dress for Barbie. These will be extended to become their coffins to envelope them. And maybe she could make a retinue of Barbie Teletubbies. BarbiePo, BarbieWinky, BarbieLaa, and BarbieDipsy. The possibilities are endless…
Barbie attempts horse-led, kitchen rainbow slalom
