40. Directive: The Id. My mind wanders about…Our Projections onto Barbie

Red Barbie = the Id
Red is a color representing the id through endless ambition and passion, trying to avoid the negative consequences , you go for whatever you want, and you are selfish. Many think Barbie is the Id because she is so “physically perfect” and she indulges in many riches and luxuries that others cannot – she has a mansion, a beach house, many cars, an airplane, etc.

Blue Barbie = The Ego.
Blue represents the Ego. Blue is a color representing calm and peace. The Ego is the mediator between the Id and Super Ego. Barbie represents all of this by having a pretty “normal life”. She has a boyfriend, Ken, and a family, that help balance her life.

Yellow Barbie = The Superego
Yellow is an angelic, bright, positive color. Barbie is never seen doing anything particularly bad or evil. She’s always helping people, like with her many jobs that help many people such as veterinarian, doctor, nurse, lawyer, president, teacher, etc.

Combining all three psyches (id, ego, & super ego) =

A black silhouette Barbie.
The color black represents “the unknown”. From this, this Barbie represents our personal projection of her – a mix of the id, ego, or superego. Whatever we want to project onto our Barbie, here she is to represent all of that.

IDEA:

My idea is inspired from maps or images that when layered on top of each other, form one whole image. I wanted to do that with tracing paper and I found this directive would be perfect.
My idea here represents how Barbie is whatever we want her to be, from the forms of “id, ego, and superego”. I chose the “three primary colors” because they happen to represent everything I wanted to show for this idea – passion/pleasure seeking (red – id), calm, mediating (blue – ego), and goody good/angelic (yellow – super ego)

I think it’s so interesting that these three basic colors are the basic colors to many other colors. The mixture of psyches correlate to the differing personalities that Barbie can have when kids play with her.

CREDIT:

I traced the Barbie silhouette from this picture – http://kidsfront.com/coloring-pages/barbie_bw_4_picture.html

Primary wheel – http://www.springville.k12.ia.us/vnews/display.v/ART/5047bd1b79f18

36. Directive: Sheep. My mind wanders about…a Wake Up Rap

Wake Up Rap
(Please click the link above to view and listen to the rap/song)

Song lyrics

Rap
The sun is up and bright,
our morning is just right.
Let’s get up and start a new day,
We’ll have a wonderful journey,
just moments away.

Chorus
I’ll be
On top of the world
Where I can see everything before me
Reaching up to touch the sky
On top of the world
All of my dreams are rushing toward me
Stretching out my wings to fly
On top of the world

Rap
Life is out there,
Brush your teeth, comb your hair
Let’s feel the morning air!
The dreams from last night,
You can pursue them without a fight.

Chorus
I’ll be
On top of the world
Where I can see everything before me
Stretching out my wings to fly
On top of the world

IDEA:

So when I mindmapped “Sheep”, I thought of sheep -> sleep -> counting sheep & -> lullabies. I am sure many of the other classmates thought the same, as when we were children, our parents sung us lullabies and told us to count sheep to go to sleep. A lot of classmates did lullabies for Sheep, but I thought why not do a little spin off of that – how about a song to help you wake up? We all are grumpy when we wake up. I thought that for a song could help a kid wake up easier and sing a long. I really wanted to rap for one of these ideas, and I think this is the perfect idea to do it for.

Credit:

Song: Barbie – On Top of the World (chorus)

35. Directive: Sheep. My mind wanders about…Barbie’s blanket.

So when I mind mapped, I went from sheep -> mattress commercial -> bed mattress ->sleep number -> nap. Later on, I connected this to some little memories as a kid. I always slept with my toys, but when I woke up, I’d be a little upset that the toys scattered throughout my bed and on the floor. So I thought it would be neat if the Barbie comfort sets had a little pocket for Barbie to sleep in for the child, so when they woke up, Barbie would be right there for her when she woke up!

I made Barbie’s blanket blend in with the comforter so it’s not too noticeable, but it’s still there for the kid to use.

Credit:

Barbie – http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/barbie-movies/images/16146868/title/fashion-fairytale-barbie-doll-close-up-photo

Comforter – http://www.magicbedding.com/Barbie-Mariposa-Comforter-Set-p33.html

39. Directive: The Id. My mind wanders about…the “getting out of here” fantasy

Idea:

I am jealous of European countries, like France, they greatly value leisure time as much as they do work. In our society, leisure doesn’t occur much and we are expected to work until the day we die. We live in such a fast paced world, I feel like sometimes we do not have time to sit back and relax,without worrying about the amount of work we have to do the next day. I think we all have that fantasy where we just want to get away from it all. Literally, take a plane ride to Hawaii or some random exotic country and forget about things for a while to just enjoy life. That is our inner ID tell us to stop working, who cares? Go out and just freaking have fun!

But unfortunately, our super ego is telling us about society’s right morals. Our super ego is saying, “You can’t simply leave your work. You have your friends, family, Fido the dog to worry about. You have to fufill your duties to your family, work place, and society. You can’t leave them hanging by jetting off. You need to put your needs over others “

Sometimes, the Id is seen as the devil side. But not necessarily. Maybe the Id can be right sometimes, maybe we do need a break from such a workaholic life. Maybe we can just enjoy life and pleasure without the consequences, as long as it is not hurting anyone.

Lucky, lucky Barbie (well technically, she’s Pocahontas haha). She gets to do whatever she wants.

But unfortunately, our fantasy of getting away somewhere exotic and randomly, riding on a horse with our boo thang, probably won’t happen.

CREDIT:

Thanks to Amrita for lending me her Nikon 5100 to take these lovely photos!

38. Directive: The Id. My mind wanders about…Barbiezilla.

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Barbie violently throwing a ship.

The army is trying to stop Barbie but to no avail!

IDEA:

So I was at my sorority’s retreat over the weekend and the lake house we were staying at had a children’s playroom. I saw a play table with train tracks and such, made for “Thomas and Friends”. I was so inspired and the kid in me was brought out by the many toys the lake house had! And it was meant to be, the lake house had Barbies!
When I think of “the Id”, I automatically think back to all my psych classes and Freud. I am currently in Abnormal Psychology (which by the way is super interesting!). The Id is our inner animal. The least human part of us, the part where we continuously seek as much pleasure as possible without pain and consequences.
In Lilo & Stitch, the “id” applies to Stitch. Stitch just wants to do what he wants without the regard of others. I like the scene in Lilo and Stitch where he just builds San Francisco and destroys it. I also think of Godzilla and how he just wanted to destroy. I think we all want to just destroy stuff for the heck of it sometimes. But we can’t, there’s something in us that inhibits destruction cause there’s stigma that destruction is wrong. Maybe not necessarily all the time, but it is fun 😉 I also made the gifs in black and white as an ode to “King Kong”, another inspiration for my post.
I executed these ideas through Barbiezilla. Through playing and doing crazy stuff, we can allocate some of that inner desire to destroy into something socially acceptable, through toys.

(p.s. I am so flattered, I received 36 likes and 7 reblogs on the iPhone app, cinemagram for my first gif ^___^ )

CREDIT:

Thank you to Amrita for letting me borrow her fancy camera, the Nikon 5100, for pictures!
I used the Cinemagram app for gifs.

34. Directive: Sheep. My mind wanders about…Teaching Kids in the Right Direction

IDEA:

So when I think of “Sheep”, I immediately think of groups of them and how farmers “herd” them into a certain way or direction. I think with Barbie dolls, we are subconsciously teaching kids about society – our values, how to interact, etc. Many of the stigma around Barbie dolls is created by society, and not necessarily by Mattel. Mattel wants kids to learn how to be good members of our society, not to be drones, but be individuals and unique.

33. Directive: Sheep. My mind wanders about…Imagination at Play.

IDEA:

From mindmapping from “Sheep”, I came up with Sheep -> Fluffy -> Clouds -> Head’s in the sky -> head’s in the clouds. When I think of “Heads in the clouds”, I don’t immediately think of “lazy”, so I can see why many people may. I first think of how your mind is being imaginative, irrational, and euphoric. I was also inspired by how someone in our class said, “Creativity is imagination at work.”
So, I was inspired by metal road signs for this idea. One of my friend’s boyfriend likes to collect metal signs and decorate their room with them. I like how metal signs are simple but convey a meaningful message. I decided to create a metal sign for children’s rooms that encourage imagination, one of Mattel’s objectives for children. This sign is made for parents who want their kids to play, be creative, and imagine. It’s also a nice reminder for kids, to just have fun and play! I could also imagine this sign hanging above a child’s bed, while they dream.

Credit:

Children’s play room – http://cdn.freshome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/kids_painted-images.jpg

32. Directive: Catalyst. My mind wanders about How to be a leader.

IDEA:

So one of the things I thought of when I mindmapped to catalyst is, “leadership.” What I’ve learned from biology, catalysts lead a chemical reaction to becoming faster and more efficient. I thought that leaders lead – whether it be a group, friends, or society, into becoming better. Barbie is a leader – she’s President, an astronaut, a teacher, etc. I thought of ways to become a leader. I came up with 3 simple criteria-

1.) Help the community.
2.) Be the first to initiate an idea (even if it’s crazy)
3.) Stand up for something you believe in.

I tried to think of other ways to be a leader, I even asked my roommates. But we all came up with similar criteria. Then I thought about it, there’s not much criteria to being a leader, it’s the execution that matters.
I decided to use the help of my sorority sisters and roommates for this project. They brought their own personality and a fresh take on this. My inspiration for the second criteria – “Be the first to initiate an idea (Even if it’s crazy) came from the “First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy“(this random guy starts dancing crazy, and then gradually, people start joining him until it becomes a flash group mob. This guy analyzes the significance in leadership in this flash mob). The example for the third criteria came from the petitioner, my roommate. We were talking about our childhood and we always reference the Disney Channel Show, “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and how the show became really bad once they came on the ship, their new spinoff. I originally told my roommate to stand up for, “Elephant Trainers Deserve to get Paid More.” ( a crazy example my UNIV200 teacher uses for his argument) But sh didn’t have as much passion for it as for Zack and Cody going back to the hotel.

31. Directive: Catalyst. My mind wanders about…Steps with Barbie

IDEA:

So each step of life represents Barbie and how you carry her as a child with you as you grow older. When you are finally old enough to say good bye to Barbie, you carry the memories on and become a strong woman. For me, these are some of the values I allocated onto Barbie and now, these are the values I have for allocated for myself. At the end, I hope not only me learns this but other women who played/did not play with Barbies learn. When I make up stories now or as a kid, one of the key drives to my plot is, “Happiness.” Happiness, is one of the things I value most, is found within myself. You can’t change other people nor you can’t change your environment/surroundings, but you can change your attitude on things.

CREDIT:

River Flows in You – Yiruma

30. Directive: Catalyst. My mind wanders about…a Steering Wheel

Idea:

I connected “Drive” to Catalyst. I like how the word, “Drive,” can be taken multiple ways yet can symbolically mean the same thing. Using the word in these contexts- “I have drive in me to complete college.” & “When you drive, you are moving forward. You are moving to your destination. You control the direction you go.” I feel like this goes hand in hand with catalyst, because a real (protein) catalyst moves forward to get the reaction it needs to get.
How I executed my idea is similar to the word itself. It’s literal and symbolic. I made a steering wheel out of Barbies. I feel like Barbie or your ideal of her can also be the drive in your life as a kid. “Barbie was a doctor, I like doctors and what they do. Now I want to be a doctor when I grow older” or something along those lines. I used green ribbon to tie Barbie together. I had to make special, tight knots so it wouldn’t fall apart. (There is no symbolism for the actual tied up Barbie. Tying the Barbies together is a mechanism to make a Barbie into a steering wheel and nothing more, just to clarify for the weirdos out there)
I was inspired by a Barbie driving wheel at the store that I was fascinated with as a kid. It was pink and it had special sounds. I was fascinated by it for weeks, I decided to go buy it. The first one I chose was running out of battery. So naturally, I went to switch it. The second one I had was also running out of battery. Switched it for another one, needless to say, they were all running out of battery, so I was disappointed and didn’t buy one. Now, I wished I did lol.