Dollboy - November 2017
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Dollboy was the result of my interest in breaking the surface of my body into parts that could be reproduced in order to create copies of it, an idea that I had started to develop in Bodyworks.
When I started working on it, I became interested in the idea of a skin that could be mechanically reproduced and this is why I chose a thin (1mm thick) rubber as the material to realise this project. Rubber has a very strong artificial quality to it as a derivate of petrol while at the same time retaining a skin feel, almost like leather.
Originally I was intending to create two sculptures that would interact with each other as if they were having an argument or a fight – I was directly referencing the works of Lynn Chadwick - and I was going to hang my pieces from the ceiling. I did several drawings portraying this idea, but halfway through the making of the first of the pieces I became interested in the felt sculptures that Robert Morris made and in how he used the material in those works. I thought that I wasn’t making use of the qualities of the material to its fully extent and I decided that I wanted to do something similar with Dollboy, as rubber would allow me to play in a similar way.
At this point I decided to modify the arms so that the piece could hang directly from them or be manipulated.
Originally I thought that stuffing the body that I had made with a material that would make it bulkier would be the best solution but presently I believe that the shape that I have created works better on its own, being completely hollow and manifesting its properties.
I finally decided to modify the legs in the same fashion as the arms and hang it on the wall at the same height of a person.
When I started working on it, I became interested in the idea of a skin that could be mechanically reproduced and this is why I chose a thin (1mm thick) rubber as the material to realise this project. Rubber has a very strong artificial quality to it as a derivate of petrol while at the same time retaining a skin feel, almost like leather.
Originally I was intending to create two sculptures that would interact with each other as if they were having an argument or a fight – I was directly referencing the works of Lynn Chadwick - and I was going to hang my pieces from the ceiling. I did several drawings portraying this idea, but halfway through the making of the first of the pieces I became interested in the felt sculptures that Robert Morris made and in how he used the material in those works. I thought that I wasn’t making use of the qualities of the material to its fully extent and I decided that I wanted to do something similar with Dollboy, as rubber would allow me to play in a similar way.
At this point I decided to modify the arms so that the piece could hang directly from them or be manipulated.
Originally I thought that stuffing the body that I had made with a material that would make it bulkier would be the best solution but presently I believe that the shape that I have created works better on its own, being completely hollow and manifesting its properties.
I finally decided to modify the legs in the same fashion as the arms and hang it on the wall at the same height of a person.
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Using Dollboy as the base material to work in further pieces I have made some drawings proposing other solutions that would involve the participation of the viewer for the piece to be completed, as splitting it in two and having a person walk between both halves so that the body can be experienced from the inside.
The anthropomorphic approach of this variation interests me most at this point.
The anthropomorphic approach of this variation interests me most at this point.
