Amber Hawk Swanson's complicated relationship with her look-alike sex doll. Amber Hawk Swanson met Amber Doll on January 25 and the two were married the next day in matching rented gowns at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Swanson, a video and performance artist, had ordered her bride online: Amber Doll, a lifelike sex doll, was specially made to look just like her. Their wedding video and other footage documenting their relationship will screen for the public this week.
Since the wedding Swanson has put Amber Doll to use in a project exploring the interplay between fantasy and reality in sexual relationships. The finished work, which is still untitled, will contrast stills of intimate "partnership" scenes with video reenactments of rape scenes from movies such as Irreversible and The Accused. Unlike "Feminism?" which spoofed sexualized depictions of women in popular culture, Swanson's latest videos are meant to mimic them as closely as possible -- with one main departure. In the rape scene reenactments, both Swanson and Amber Doll will be dressed as the victim in the film. She gets most of her costumes from Forever 21 and H&M, including dresses similar to the one worn by Monica Bellucci in Irreversible. "These places had the majority of the `asking for it' outfits I was looking for," she explains.
Swanson is still toying with ideas for what to do with Amber Doll once the project is finished. "I've thought a lot about it," she says. "It does seem like there needs to be an end to the body. I had a dream where I shot her in the face and it ricocheted and killed me.
Good job looking more robotic than the robot; twice, too..
An excellent point. Perhaps future refinements will qualify for a "removing the artist from the creative process."
"I killed my master, and all I got was this bland facial-expression."
I'd say she has 10 pounds on her silicone doppelganger. It would be more interesting if her "idealized self" was heavier than she, don't you think? OK, maybe not.
From the article:
6K is all it would have taken? Before this Iraq war thing the NEA spent that much on napkins.
Using the above information I can extrapolate that a doll which accurately represented my "unique" proportions would cost 4 million dollars, which is why I'm not an artist. If I were I would be poorer than I am now because I can assure you that nobody would be willing to pay $6 to look at pictures of me raping myself.
$6k is half the price, just a downpayment.
I believe you misunderstand the price breakdown: it would have cost her $24k to get one made to her exact measurements - in other words custom - whereas choosing the "stock" frame that was closest to her measurements obviated the need for a costly special modeling and moulding process and also meant that the doll could be made faster from parts on hand.
Hmm. So I'm guessing that buying an extra-large one, sleeping inside it each night, and recreating the birth process each morning before you get ready for work is a bit fiscally infeasible, eh?:-P
...
I didn't just accidentally think up a potential new market for this kind of thing, did I?
"Ah, yes. A new day -- a new life. Now -- to shower off this mess."
Silicone doesn't breathe well. I recommend strongly against this idea.
And you probably just thought up a new fetish. Ewww. Thanks a lot.
You DARE doubt the prophesied coming of RealMommy with breathable womb and high-capacity breastfeeding action?!??
BLASPHEMER!
YOU'LL BE THE FIRST...
Well...maybe not the first against the wall when the revolution comes, but I'll think of something more fitting.
Or they will.
Maybe the RealMommy worshipers will throw you into a reeducation camp until you learn to embrace the giant robotic womb.
The first in the stirrups?
jai.
.
>The first in the stirrups?
Or maybe the punishment will be that a new line of RealMommies will patterned off her likeness. Then when followers/worshipers start buying that model, she'll have no choice but to identify with those followers as sort of a mother figure by proxy.
Do I know how to design a theocracy or what?:-)
Only if when the RealMommies inevitably fail, I am allowed to rule in their stead. :P
Baby ZIM says: "I love you, cold unfeeling robot arm!"
I'm sure they can customize a Chicken Wire Mother version if someone wants it.:-)
"Dear conceptual art majors..."
This is really fucking creepy.
Brilliantly fucking creepy. It's not easy to come up an idea as creepy as that.
And everyone was wondering what you can do with a liberal arts degree!
That's not a look-alike real doll. The doll is actually attractive, while the "artist" could be improved if she were to bathe in strong acid.
Presumably any males inspired by her work will use Seul contre tous as the basis for their doll.
Reading through this and some of her previous work I'm curious about her doing a video where someone have sex with the doll while she watches and masturbates to it. Not to buy into some of this crap, but what would this say about sexual fantasies and voyeurism? Is there a point where watching someone having sex with your double would be more enjoyable than actually having sex with that person?
I hate to provide anyone with more ideas for conceptual "art", but it seems to be the sort of thing she's going for here.
I'd still rather check out a decomposing shark or an apartment filled with foam rubber, then destroyed, then assembled again with only it's foam rubber forms. Ah, I miss conceptual art of the ninties. This woman is basically doing Oprah's bit but dumbed-down.
Threesome!