Barbie World is Beautiful

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

Barbie World is Beautiful is a parodic photographic series in which I transfer the everyday, often stereotyped, life situations into idealized environments of the Barbie world. The title of this work-in-progress conveys in the original, Slovene language (Barbie svet je lep), a much more ironic meaning. One photography shows one evident situation, which can be applied to the festival’s theme that is the problems of dialogues or the lack thereof. To the contemporary individuals it seems that they are in constant dialogue everywhere and with everyone – of course they have their own Facebook profiles, they engage in sports and meditate to relieve tension after a long day at work, they eat healthy, biologically grown food, they follow the latest urban fashion trends and have an opinion about everything – ecology, religion, politics, while remaining politically correct, they ensure their children the best possibilities for development, etc. If they are up to date with everything that is current, there truly is no reason why everyone shouldn’t be satisfied. Perhaps due to a small inconvenience, the true dynamic, which underlines everything else, begins (and ends) with establishing interpersonal relations, so to say, between people. What is actually left of interpersonal relations if we remove the human factor? Dolls stuck in absurd situations, which could only be humorous, if they are not real. In this perspective the representation can easily be mistaken for presence, monologue for dialogue, appearance for image, impoverished relations for professionalism, expressing emotions for the rules of proper behavior, etc. The contemporary individual is in a fictitious dialogue with all social norms, conventions and expectations, written and non-written, which show time and time again their inability to work. For the sake of maintaining different roles that are desired, created or imposed, the individual sacrifices, mainly, the dialogue with itself. The perpetual smile of the Barbie doll, which naively promises that all will be well, if we accept all the difficulties of this world with a smile, just isn’t cap/able of providing a convincing answer.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

Staged photography, in which the final image is a result of a complete scene-construction, before the image is captured (there is no post-production), including the story characters, their placement and lighting.

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

Hopefully, it will give the viewers the material and reason to stop and think, maybe laugh, maybe disapprove. But mostly, to make them think and not to overlook the plethora of ideologies that are rooted behind the lovely kitschy package.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

This particular project is a never ending story – there are so many possible combinations, so many different ways in which you can explore diverse human relations. It is a challenge on how to do this with the use of stiff dolls.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

I don’t know if it’s good. It is humorous and yet critical and points out to a link between the perpetual smile and an overly serious self-perception. It indicates that the contemporary individual is actually overwhelmed with social conventions in expectations – he is in a fictitious dialogue with everyone. For the purpose of maintaining this dialogue, he loses the dialogue with himself.

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

It’s a work-in-progress, but this series is done.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

Not to my knowledge.