Barbie on the Cusp
A work-in-progress art installation by Susan R. Kirshenbaum during her Black & White Projects (BWP) Art Residency, April 2019, San Francisco, CA
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
For most of my art career I’ve been focused on developing my figurative work, created digitally since 2013, in multiple series printed on paper, fabric, metal, and canvas. For the Black & White Projects Art Residency (Spring 2019, SF, CA) I embarked on a new direction.
I created the first phase of Barbie on the Cusp, an idea I’ve been ruminating on for a long time. It consists of an installation that fills half of the residency studio and is composed of disparate elements to create a narrative about how my art took root and the influence of children’s toys and games. I drew directly (non-digital) onto wall-mounted paper working in a couple of sessions with a live model and props. I created a short video of me reading my story as well as a small first edition of the zine plus a larger version of a z-folded hand-bound art book on a pedestal. At the reception I invited attendees to a write-your-own-story (see link to send yours). There was also a game board on the floor surrounded by hazard tape and littered with headless naked Barbies in unseemly positions, some with crime victim outlines, while others were climbing the walls. There was also a vitrine with a display of old black and white photos of me at age 13, an old drawing, a vintage Barbie, and the first art doll I ever created.
I installed an experience that a viewer could walk through and participate in - people were encouraged to enter the space, read, listen, watch, and see Barbies in various states to get a sense of how my Barbie story relates to becoming a strong woman and how each of our Barbie stories are formative experiences that live on.
A sample chapter page from the book.
A sample illustrated text page from the book.
Phase 2: Barbie on the Cusp
Here we are enjoying a dramatic sky on the balcony at our place in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Barbie’s suitcase never arrived in Spain. Oh well.
The next zine is available now. See the all-new, all-photographic “Phase 2: Barbie on the Cusp” for sale at Open Studios. It over 30 pages of photos. Get your personalized copy - only $20 for this limited edition of 10.
PHASE 2: BARBIE ON THE CUSP (Barbie on the Road)
The work I’m showing at Open Studios is new and includes the next iteration of an on-going project “Phase 2: Barbie on the Cusp” and other recent works. The Barbie series is a subversive, feminist art project about the 60's, adolescence, transitions, adulthood, memories, relationships, secrets, games, bodies, role models, and behavior modeling. This exhibition includes photographic works that bring my story into the present, as well as zines, illustrations, and installations. All of my work is figurative and this chapter is especially exciting as it marries my interest in the figure with story-telling, personal history, photography, book arts, drawing and illustration.
Her Visit to Catalonia
The story continues abroad. June and July are all about escaping from San Francisco’s chilly fog. Look for “Barbie on the Cusp” updates on my Instagram and Facebook pages, and here too.
Her Visit to Yosemite
Barbie visited Yosemite National Park in September 2019. She stayed in an RV for the first time. The weather was fine, still summer but brisk at night. The moon was full and the planets were visible. It’s good to get out and walk through the giant tress, flowing waterfalls, and take in the views from the rocky vistas! Yosemite is only four hours from San Francisco but this was only my second trip in decades.
SF ARTSPAN OPEN STUDIOS - Fall 2019
This year my Open Studio will be held during Weekend 3, October 26-27, from 11am-6pm. I’ll be at Pacific Felt Factory (PFF) in their main gallery on the first floor. Look for more of my “Phase 2: Barbie on the Cusp” signed zines - 2 versions - as well as my limited edition prints, cards, and other special show merchandise. Additional recent works will be on display and everything is for sale directly through me (no commissions) for these two days.
PFF is located on 20th Street between York and Bryant Streets (edge of the Mission near Potrero Hill) in SF.
Don’t miss our Mimosas on Sunday 11am-1pm.
See our PFF Group poster here.
Participating artists include: Truong Tran, Sandra Yagi, Rodney Ewing, Karen Olsen-Dunn, Cindy Shih, Ron Moultrie Saunders, Brian Singer, Irman Arcibal, Theresa J. Giannattei, Jon Fischer, and Shane Izykowski
Not too Late to Participate
Tell Your Own Barbie Story - Please!
I’d love to know what you experienced in the world of Barbie tales so I am collecting these stories. Would you please share them with me? They will be published anonymously on my website and I will incorporate them into the next phase of the books and the project. Rough and short are preferred. Send them to me via email at srkirshenbaum@gmail.com.
More About These Series
At the reception (left) and old black and white taken by father. He printed it in his darkroom, then he cut it out and rounded the corners creating a Barbie-sized print.
Initial Brainstorm
Childhood, friendship, tweens, 13, big East Coast basements, installations, spread out all over the floor, board game, sex, gender, rape, incest, murder, assault - adding up to The Real Barbie Game.
Next to the vitrine which contains old black and white photos of me taken by my father, a tiny old watercolor of mine, a new Barbie (re-issued anniversary edition) like one of my first, my first art doll I made in 2016, and a little pink bath mat that represents the floor.
Q & A with SRK
Q: What was the initial concept and how did it morph?
A: To create a miniature world or a doll house filled with childhood memories. Sculpt very small-scale figures (or use modified dolls) and create furnishing from modeling clay, balsa wood, glue and fabric to create nightmarish little environments with vignettes of narratives. Create a sound track and projections to accompany the installation. Lights and could indicate shifts from day to night (this was the most ambitious of all my ideas!)
Q: This is such a different direction for your work! Why this change of approach to your art-making?
A: Yes, it’s different from the work I’ve been creating for the past 5-10 years. But I began a video performance art track way back in 1980 at SFAI…
Q: How did the residency affect your project plans?
A: I wanted to take advantage of the space and time provided in a residency, as well as the lack of a requirement to exhibit safe work, that might sell well, that needs to be gallery-ready in presentation, and what my patrons expect of me. I wanted to take a plunge and shift my focus to:
Change Scales – work larger and smaller
Create installation experiences with sound, light, touch, projected imagery, possibly physical sensations (ideally including smells)
Include 3-D/Sculptural elements
Get away from all digital all the time
Bring back video/performance into my work
Develop and exhibit a project that is revealing and obviously personal, political and feminist
Collaborate with Art Residency Director Rhiannon MacFadyen
My (Recurring) Themes
Feminism
Active female figures
Story-telling narratives
Incorporate language/words with images
Body love
Freedom
Borders and boundaries
Memories
Active change/progress
SEE MY BLOG POST
I wrote a post about my residency project “Barbie on the Cusp” in May 2019. You can read more about it here.
Reading the z-fold art book at the reception.
The crowd at my April 2019 reception buying zines.
Artist’s Zine & Book
Barbie on the Cusp is the self-published zine (small book) that tells the story for the project of the same name. I am adding variations to the original that was sold at the April 2019 reception at Pacific Felt Factory where Black and White Projects is based and I had an art residency. Here’s how to get yours:
Buy my updated zine, Barbie on the Cusp, in its second limited edition for $20 + tax (if it’s a Chatbook - but if it’s a Blurb book it will be more and you may order it directly)! It’s currently in production and due out in May 2019. There will be an edition of 10 of these. I sign each one.
Place your order here for the larger-scale version - a hand-bound artist’s book that comes in a handmade box in a small edition (under 10). This book will be available at my Artspan Open Studio show and on sale during the last weekend of October 2019 at Pacific Felt Factory. Reserve yours today. Cost is tbd.
Also coming soon - the video of the reading of the zine.
The front cover of original edition - published in April 2019.
Look around and you’ll see Barbie references everywhere! I saw this poster in Mexico City - a trip I took during the residency. So many kinds of inspiration!