My concept for the essay portion of this project was that Barbie has transformed from a fashion doll to a piece of art used to express social and political ideas. I then wanted to portray this concept in a way that was relevant to my own life, and since I grew up with half my family being computer programmers, I thought it would be funny to create a “Silicon Valley Barbie”. I gave her a small office with clean designs and lots of small things that represented programmer type personalities, like lots of electronics and junk food. I made her an outfit just with a simple pair of sweatpants and a shirt because I wanted it to seem as though she spent most of her time at this office, and was comfortable enough to wear pajamas there.
I chose this specific Barbie to make kind of as a play on Malibu Barbie’s “Dream Life”. Where I come from, the real dream life is to make it in Silicon Valley with a video game, app or computer program because in today’s society and the technological age that is where all the money can be found. It’s the modern “dream life” that’s even actually being hinted at by the Barbie company itself while I was making this project; they came out with a series on Youtube where Barbie’s mother is a computer programmer and they life in a smart home.
To make this dollhouse I first constructed the room out of some left over cardboard. I then put paper on all the walls, created a window and made the desk, shelf and windowsill. I then played with the idea of how at Google they have the “sleeping pods”, instead giving my Barbie an office swinging chair where she can lounge while she works. This I made with wire and yarn. I then printed out various different items from online and cut them out to create food items and some comic books for barbie. I also made her an iphone, desktop computer, ipad and a DS. Her tee shirt and pillows are made from Urban Outfitter bags and her pants are from some soft fabric I found around my house. This project was also 100% recycled materials and 100% no waste.
