above left: Lady Peyote, 7.5" tall above right: Lil' Allsort,7.5" tall, $8o5.00 each
A traditional Mexican art, Huichol is the craft of coating wood carved masks, animals, birds, serpents, and forms with wax, onto which tiny crystal beads (chaquira) and colored strings (estambre) are laid or woven with great precision.
DFC, the mexico city based design duo of Tony Moxham and Mauricio Paniagua, has created and is selling individual sculptures using this technique on doll's heads. The result are wonderfully creepy pieces of modern art they call Chaquira sculptures.
Each Chaquira is painstakingly crafted by using the huichol technique on beeswax coated plastic doll heads (some still with hair). measuring an average of 6" tall, they'd be amazing as a collection. You can commission a custom one as well.
Pris, $690.00:
Prince Mushi I, 7.5" tall, $747.50:
Prince Mushi II, 7.5" tall, $747.50:
Kikin, 6" tall, $690.00:
Starchild Chaquira sculpture, $747.50:
Starlet Chaquira Sculpture, 6" tall, $747.50
Good Luck Baby Chaquira Sculpture, 13" long, $2,990.00:
To purchase one of the above Chaquira sculptures or to order a custom one, contact them here.
To see examples of traditional huichol artworks, go here.
above: The Giant and Giantess (enormous marionettes by Royal de Luxe) reuniting.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall, an unusual, and BIG, event took place in Germany in the first week of October.
In the first four days of October nearly two million people celebrated “The Berlin reunion” with the BIG GIANT and the LITTLE GIANTESS. Sunday the GIANTS’ tale ended with their celebratory parade through the government quarter. When the LITTLE GIANTESS and the DEEP SEE DIVER left Berlin by boat, hundreds of thousands said Good bye to the two fascinating GIANTS from the waterfront between Moltkebrücke and Elsenbrücke.
the press release: spielzeit’europa | Berliner Festspiele and the legendary French street theatre company Royal de Luxe will present a theatrical event in October on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. On their journey through Berlin the two giant marionettes measuring up to 15-meters high, the Little Giantess and the Big Giant, tell a fairytale of finding each other again after a long separation. The event takes place under the patronage of the cultural minister Bernd Neumann and comprises the main event celebrating German Unification Day. Royal de Luxe will enchant Berlin’s public with their enormous figures and will revive the emotions of 1989.
Brigitte Fuerle, artistic director of spielzeit’europa, will present “The Giants Arrive – A Fairy Tale for Berlin” from 1 - 4 October open air and with free admission. At important locations throughout the German capital, such as the Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden and the Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall), Royal de Luxe will tell a story particularly created for Berlin: ”We chose to deal with the theme of a drastic separation rather than an explicitly political one,” explained Jean Luc Courcoult, artistic director of Royal de Luxe. One day sea monsters ripped the city in two. One of these parts was then surrounded by a wall, causing the Big Giant to become separated from the Little Giantess. But then the Big Giant went searching…
“In a poetic and moving fairytale told in an incomparable manner and with a tender gaze, the giants render the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall into an unforgettable event. An event that deals with the great fortune and vast emotions of 1989 as a gift to the city and its people, as well as with the painful past and with all viewers from near and far. An October fairy tale for Berlin.” Brigitte Fuerle, artistic director of spielzeit’europa.
For 30 years Royal de Luxe have been representing exceptional street theatre, which the company practices throughout the world. Under the group’s founder and artistic director, Jean Luc Courcoult, in recent years Royal de Luxe have created fantastic theatre events using enormous human and animal figures that are guided by up to 40 actors and that move with incredible liveliness. In this way they delighted all of London in 2006 and went on to transform the streets of Santiago de Chile into a gigantic theatre festival in 2007. As part of spielzeit’europa in 2008 Royal de Luxe created the installation “La Révolte des Mannequins,” by which they captivated the pedestrians in front of KaDeWe’s display windows for an entire week.
“The Little Giantess and the Big Giant will bring magic to Berlin.” Joachim Sartorius, director of the Berliner Festspiele
The Story:
A moving and impressive celebration using the amazing giant marionettes created by Royal de Luxe, the photos tell the beautiful story better than I can.
The Giantess is awoke from sleep, showered and dressed and marched through town where she travels in a boat and slicker, eats a lolly and rides a scooter before meeting up with the Giant.
The Giant emerges from the water, where his helmet is removed and he is marched through town, awakened by music and finally led to Brandenberg gate where he will be reunited with the Giantess.
After being reunited, the Giant and Giantess spend the evening at The Brandenburg gate.
The next day they are awakened, each marched through the town and finally placed on a boat together where they sail off and bid farewell to Berlin.
A special thanks to Nina for her beautiful video of the event, shown below.
all photos courtesy of the official site
Goulish Barbies, Barfin' Barbies, Boozin' Barbies, Bloody Barbies, Tranny Barbies and Bondage Barbies were a few of the more common themes at this years' San Francisco 7th Annual Altered Barbie Exhibit.
Welcome to the dollhouse. Viktor & Rolf's Dollhouse, that is. Dutch fashion design duo Viktor & Rolf, whose runway shows have become increasingly imaginative over the years, employing everything from models wearing their own lighting and scaffolding to soot darkened faces and bodies, are showcasing some of their best and most interesting designs in a uniquely Viktor & Rolf sort of way.
Having constructed a large dollhouse in whose rooms stand porcelain dolls (each doll approximately 2 feet tall) clad in their most memorable creations from the past fifteen years, Viktor & Rolf once again immortalize themselves in fashion history.
This summer an exhibition at the Barbican Art gallery in the UK put the duo's fashions on porcelain dolls in a giant dollhouse as well as on runways with films of past runway shows playing in the background. The fashions and dolls are arranged by collection within the rooms. About fifty 19th century dolls showcase some of their most memorable creations since all the way back to 1993, taking over the entire gallery.
The House of Viktor & Rolf: Dutch fashion design arrives at the Barbican 18 June 2008 - 21 September 2008, Barbican Art Gallery
I have laboriously and painstakingly found the actual full size fashions from their past runway shows since 1993 -- as well as almost all of the dolls from the Barbican exhibit -- and am putting them side by side for you to see for yourselves.
As shown above, even the hair and make-up on the bisque dolls replicate the look of the models and outfits.
The head of each doll is made by a Belgian expert who fires bisque faces traditionally and they are stunningly rendered with hand painted make up and hairstyles to match the models:
And if you thought having the outfit smaller makes it easier to make, you are mistaken; each dress reportedly took double the time a full-size one takes to make.
Above: Drawing on the Dutch tradition of silver plating a baby’s first shoe as a keepsake, the climax of Viktor & Rolf’s Autumn/Winter collection of 2006–07, was a strapless wedding dress with a wide petticoated knee length skirt, silver plated, including even the bride’s bouquet.
The Book / Publication: Above: A 256 page hardback book, the most comprehensive on the work of Viktor & Rolf to date, including 400 fashion photographers, catwalk images and exclusive illustrations and polaroids, is available. Text by Caroline Evans and Susannah Frankel. Designed by FUEL. Published by Merrell in association with Barbican Art Gallery.
