A few years ago, I stumbled upon an artistic masterpiece
in the form of sadistic photographs of beloved Barbie with her darling Ken in
very uncomfortable, shocking positions. Psycho Barbie Killer stayed with me (I
even wrote a short story about it for my school zine) and every time I update
my knowledge on Mariel Clayton's work, I am astounded, moved and
amused.
Clayton is a doll photographer (I know right, who knew that was
even a job?) who creates mesmerising sets using Barbie, Ken and their children
to produced very powerful commentary on society, love, the American Dream, same
sex marriage, gender roles, abortion, abuse, depression, fear, murder, psychopathic
tendencies, the institution of marriage - and she even delves into recreating
childhood fables and historical figures. The attention to detail of each set is
amazing - she utilises space to create Barbie rooms like no other, with each
object strategically place in such a way that it feels as though the
dolls themselves created the havoc of the rooms. Objects such as cigarettes,
dildos, blood, umbilical chords, weapons, food, alcohol and almost every
material possession you could think of features in Clayton's sets. Mariel is
entirely self taught and garnered her inspiration while on a trip to
Japan where she became fascinated with Japanese figurines - and thus her mind
began to chaotically produce these amazing pieces of art.
There are far too many themes and photographs for me to use all of
them, so I have selected a few photographs from three categories which are
currently my favourite. I strongly suggest that you visit her website and go
through all her pictures - they are pretty much all fucking fantastic.
This series is called 49/Rooms.
Each is titled with a word that reflects the situation in the room as America's power
couple Barbie and Ken deal with the complicated issues, together and
respectively. I have selected five, but PLEASE check out the other 44.
Room Forty/Three - Fetishism
Room Four - Bedtime Story
Room Ten - Femininity
Room Eighteen - Consequence
Room Forty/Six - Insomnia
The next theme is called Wedded and Clayton comments, "It's all about the wedding and never about the marriage". Look at each photograph clearly and you will see how fucked up the situations actually are - with the The Crappy Couple being wasted and fucking members of their wedding party with vomit and placidity.
The Crappy Couple
The Recieving Line
The Reception
The Best Man
The Oakville Ladies Society Presents: 'The Gentlewomens Sociopathic Syllabary
Each photograph in this series is captioned with a letter of the alphabet that alludes to methods of torture and cold blooded murder.
C
is for Canopus:
Of or pertaining to vessel or jar used to store internal
organs of the deceased.
E
is for Exodontia:
The extraction or removal of teeth
J is for Jactitation:
The restless jerking or spasming of the body
K is for Kreatophagia: The eating of raw meat
I WISH I COULD POST ABOUT ALL HER WORK, but I can't, so I encourage/demand/expect that you check out her other stuff. On her Facebook page, she has written in depth description and commentary for most of the photos - super interesting stuff. She is a brilliant writer, very funny and very cynical...!!!
xxx Holly
