Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder...

I have seen a couple of child dolls around with really miserable faces like they had just been told that their favourite cat had been eaten by a pitbull terrier while eating a lemon and to me they are hideous.

But others like them and buy them so who am I to gainsay them as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all...

Saying that, if I ever wanted to do a really twisted horror type doll, those aforementioned child dolls would be an ideal base to work from...

Phil.

 

Okay, there's a lot of tl;dr on the 5th page (sorry guys - I can't read anything over 5 paragraphs long on a discussion forum), but mostly I've enjoyed reading what people have to say on the subject. I think it's kind of cute that some people can come out and say "yeah, there is some questionable looking stuff out there, but I guess someone's gotta like it or they wouldn't make it" with no frills, and no appoligies, and then others have to back it up with the PC "-but all dolls are beautiful, because artists create beautiful things love stars rainbows hearts confetti-"

So, here's a thought. Maybe "beauty" has a certain amount of science to it, and mainstream sculpters draw from that fact to create the "beautiful" dolls that they produce en mass. And other artists and sculptors leave less customization and imagination up to us, by giving us more detailed, maybe less "beautiful" dolls, because they wanted to interpret them differently.

I think that the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" is slightly misinforming - the phrase should really read "Value is in the eye of the beholder" because, let's face it - if something is utterly drawing to a single individual, while the rest of the world looks at it crosseyed because the aesthetics are nuts, then the term "beauty" does not apply. Fact of life: majority rules. But nobody's going to tell you that you can't fawn over the crazy-looking thing, and to you it will be as precious as diamonds, because there's value in it to you. And isn't that what we're all really looking for - something that means something special to us?

 

Perhaps, we should differentiate between biological beauty and artistic beauty. The problem with dolls is that, being representation of the human form, they are sometimes subconsciously perceived through the same lens as biological entities. Shiny eyes, clear skin, full lips, straight, symmetrical features are a sign of a good potential breeding mate. There's been research done which demonstrates that those are the same basic "beauty standards" for all the human races and cultures. Of course, it looks nice on dollies. But scars, odd features, flawed skin and other obvious imperfections may make a doll into something greater, like an object of conceptual art. Appreciation of that kind of beauty certainly depends on the development of an individual's taste more than on the hardwired mammalian programming.

 

Good point:

Counterpoint:

Nobody (but a crazy person) looks at cubism by the afamed Pablo Picasso - conceptual for its time, and even at present, by some standards - and uses the adjective "beautiful". Rad, nuts, vibrant, cool, interesting, dynamic, expressive, ingenious, and expensive all come to mind... but not beautiful. I think you can grow to appreciate things other than beauty (people still eat WarHead candies, right? Why??) for what it is, without trying to stick it with a label that doesn't quite fit.

 

Ok, how about "sublime" then? For the difference between "beautiful" and "sublime", google Kant. I'm too lazy for a serious philosophic discussion.

 

Thank you, Wikipedia. Interesting read, actually. Somewhat outdated, but classical.

Personally, when I see Picasso's cubic work, I'm prone to question whether drugs were involved in his artistic process, so "sublime" is not a word I would use to describe his work. But if someone values it that much... that's completely subjective.

 

Beauty is a very personal thing, and is really 'in the eye of the beholder' despite how old the saying is, it's true. I think toads are cute. Not everyone agrees with me on that, doll are the same way.
Not everyone likes everything.

 

I agree that all BJD sculpts could be classed as beautiful even if there are dolls out there that I personally find hideous. Everyone has different tastes and all hand crafted dolls can be classed as works of art even if they aren't your cup of tea. Some dolls I find quirky or interesting looking rather than beautiful. As a doll enthusiast i'm interested in a range of dolls but considering just how many dolls are out there (both BJD and non-BJD) and there are loads, it's to be expected that not all of them will appeal to me. I do find some dolls unpleasant to look at but I still respect those individuals who do like and own them.