Comments on: Hey, look at the dummies!

Hey, look at the dummies!

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:10:36 -0800

antique wax mannequins. "Unlike the frozen, lifeless mannequins of today, these European busts were posed for, many at the turn of the century, by flesh and blood women". (I'm not sure how this one found it's way in there.)

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:17:16 -0800

This makes no sense, but it is the middle of the night here, I am sitting by myself, and looking at these pictures completely creeped me out. Not going into the other room now. Nope.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:30:22 -0800

This post reminded me that I always meant to check ebay to see if I could buy a simple mannequin; I do quite a bit of T-Shirt airbrushing and wanted to work on a 3-D torso surface, rather than pinning it to my trusty plywood form board. Found some truly bizarre stuff a wee bit out of my price range.

By: taz

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:37:24 -0800

By the way, according to this International Herald Tribune article:

Trendspotters working on visual conventions predict that mannequins will become more abstract in the way they convey women's bodies, perhaps simplifying their forms to the point where they become mere suggestions of female form: an arc for shoulders, two cones for the bust and another arc, perhaps in foam rubber, for hips.

Kind of sad. I searched and searched, but could find no mannequin museum on the web - can you believe it? It seems like an internet natural. Also no luck on a history of mannequins; I found one article, but it was a pay-subscription site. This paucity of online mannequin cuilture is shocking!

By: taz

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:40:00 -0800

Actually, Dave, I don't blame you.

By: taz

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:49:54 -0800

Oops, sorry! The above remark should have been directed to Joey! But Dave, your Ebay idea gave me a thought: searching "vintage mannequin" brings up quite a few results. Ebay: the de facto revolving-exhibit internet museum.

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 03:50:24 -0800

Along the same lines ... mondo creepy.

By: skallas

skallas — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 04:10:14 -0800

This just sceams "Twilight Zone" episode. I can hear the dialogue now "these girls... I know them. These are all the women I've slighted in my life!"

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 06:42:56 -0800

Mannequins are *inherently* creepy. I've seen angular, abstract mannequins like these here in Raleigh, Taz. It makes sense from a cost perspective, if nothing else.

By: Katemonkey

Katemonkey — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 06:57:36 -0800

Dave -- find a store that's closing down. They'll usually give you a mannequin for cheap. There was a mannequin shoproom that I'd pass by on my way home from school when I was in high school -- god, I wish I had gone in and bought one...

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 07:55:15 -0800

Great site taz! For those who aren't sufficiently haunted, photographer Daniel Morduchowicz has a spooky mannequin portfolio with some great shots - flash site, select portfolio/ fine art / mannequins.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 08:52:29 -0800

very creepy, but cool--they were much more non-generic then. And that Twilight Zone ep is a classic.

By: Captain_Tenille

Captain_Tenille — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 08:57:11 -0800

I cannot belive no one has mentioned this documentary yet.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 11:33:17 -0800

Lovely post, taz, as usual :). Looking at these images, and others I've been running across in the past couple of weeks makes me wonder about something. Was the cupid's bow mouth morphologically more prominent then, or was it just 'the look,' natural to a few, aspired to by many and achieved with cosmetics?

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 12:43:50 -0800

Wow. Portrait of Sarek as a young Vulcan?

By: milovoo

milovoo — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 12:48:39 -0800

[Via Boing]?

By: taz

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 12:54:53 -0800

Good question, Lynsey. I'm pretty sure it's a makeup-thing. I was thinking that Clara Bow popularized the look, but when I look at actresses like Theda Bara and Lillian Gish, who preceded her by a few years, "those lips" were already obvious. But look at this portrait of Mary Pickford, for example, and then this one. In the first, her lips are natural, and in the second a good bit of artistry has evidently been used to get that perfect small-cupids-bow-mouth-beestung-lips look. also, Norma Talmadge: here, and here. (Also interesting: look at this page of silent actresses. Almost all have "the lips". Now, look at this page of German silent film actresses. Not so much.)

By: taz

taz — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 12:59:23 -0800

Actually, milovoo, I came across it while looking for some Greek images. The photographer has some Greek island photos here.

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 13:00:22 -0800

It's not just the lips. Anyone else notice how much fuller those faces are? No razor-sharp cheekbones then...

By: semmi

semmi — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 15:04:11 -0800

Ah, but the Greek KOUROS/KOUROI smile. I envy you Taz.

By: sunexplodes

sunexplodes — Sun, 29 Aug 2004 19:26:42 -0800

a different kind of tragedy... kraftwerk, today, posing with their mannequin counterparts of old.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 07:44:18 -0800

These are magnificent. Like Dave, at one point I wanted 3 or 4 mannequins to do an art piece I had in mind...but between the cost of the mannequins and the logistics of placement, the sculpture never got done... These mannequins, however are awe inspiring, and I'd feel terrible about doing to them what I had in mind for the little plastic bodies on display at fine department stores everywhere. ;)

By: ed\26h

ed\26h — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 01:54:02 -0800

Utterly hideous.