To you, is a bjd an art piece or are they a doll?

Things can be both

To me they are personally like a blank canvas most of the time. They are not like mass produced, factory finished dolls, but for most of them to become an art piece it needs someone to work with the canvas. Only a few I look at all blank and think right away "pure art" (like Dollzone Moment, actually prefer this doll blank).

So my answer is a bit of a "neither" and "can be both" at the same time. Just because it's "only" a doll doesn't mean it can't be an art piece as well. And just because they are somewhat hand-made by an artist doesn't make the blank copies to an art piece on their own right away sometimes as well.

 

I see them as an art piece. The sculpts and face ups (and clothes etc etc) are so much more than the mass produced toys you buy for a kid to play with.

 

At first it was just an art thing. I liked posing my dolls to draw and take pictures of them. Over time though I've gotten pretty attached to these little guys

 

Both, and more.

They are art, not mass produced children's toys I could buy at Wal-Mart, but they're also toys in the sense that I do play with them. They're also physical shells for my roleplay characters, so I'm also pretty attached to their characters. That's probably the biggest thing for me. If they don't have a character that feels special to me, I don't keep them around.

 

Honestly, if I'm going to categorize them, I see them more as an impressively executed craft, rather than art. I'm unlikely to walk into a museum and hear someone say, "To your left is Michelangelo's David, and on your right you will see Iplehouse's Leonard." They just don't have the potential to evoke the emotional kick that I perceive as art above craft. I see them as lovingly crafted - and understandably expensive - grownup toys.

 

I see them as a bit of both! They’re obviously far more detailed and high quality than your average mass produced toy, but they’re still definitely dolls to me. I don’t play with them the same way I did when I was a kid, but I still dress them up and pose them like is common for dolls.

That being said, I see them as artistic expression as well. They’re sculpted with the careful touch of an artist in a way that’s completely different from mass produced dolls. I also do faceups as an artistic expression and see it as me doing art.

So I guess I would say both! I’m sure it’s different for everyone though.

 

Both to me. At the end of the day though.. they are dolls. Just unique, not the norm ball jointed dolls. They are very beautiful. Lots of hard work goes into them. People are very artistic and make them a piece of art. They definitely mean more to me than Monster High dolls that I recently got(even the ones I repainted). You get to pose them, play with them, change their eyes/eyelashes. So technically - they are dolls. What they mean to me is definitely more than the average doll though or what dolls normally mean to people.

 

They are both.

 

Very expensive, well crafted toys. I would call them adult toys, but, you know.

 

I think they are a work of art and you can make them whatever you want....I love bjd.

 

Personally to me they are dolls that are a work of art (more so if had face ups etc) I think it depends how you view it as my rag doll is a piece of art to me also. However even though they are art to me they are still played with as dolls and out in open for my enjoyment so I can always see them.

 

They are exclusive dolls that can be regarded as a form of art. =)

 

As @celga said, they are a skillfully made craft, more than art. I feel that face-ups and costuming can evolve them into unique works of art. Mine are mostly similar in size to mass produced Barbie dolls, since I find the size comfortable to handle. They are still dolls, just far more like art than a child's toy.

 

For me, they are art - or even more than art. My connection with my doll is very strong and I sometimes think about him as a real person. I bought him to have something nice when I have to deal with my illness and his story was quite unique from the very beginning. He's technically just a doll which is made from a bit more expensive plastic and is ball jointed but he is the only one item that is so priceless for me. I suppose that now every my new doll will be special to me as well. Well, I hope so.

 

To me they're dolls - toys - playthings - if I don't play with them there's no point in having the, they're just a waste if they're not played with..

Teddy

 

Adult, very expensive toys. Or more like giant action figures (though you can get them in smaller size, too).

 

Very expensive toys that are also art pieces. I have two non-BJD dolls that are display only because they are very delicate and I consider them art pieces. I have other sturdy play dolls that are made to be played with but I have very delicate, OOAK, expensive costumes for them that are art pieces. I keep these wrapped up in tissue paper in their own boxes, separate from my other “every day” clothing for these dolls.

I think once I start collecting more clothing pieces for my BJD I will do the same. Right now, I have only two outfits and they are definitely “every day” items. Maybe the doll itself isn’t an art piece all the time, but when she’s in certain costumes she will be. Does that make sense?

 

I was thinking about this today, I'm an art student and I'm currently taking classes in Art History. I admire these dolls for the details in sculpture and design, the artists who create them really work to present something that looks how they intended. However, the fact that these are still "commodified" by us purchasing them, and that there's multiples of the same "product," takes them outside of the traditional fine art sense.

But then that raises the question, after we've purchased and altered them to fit our aesthetics, do they then become an individual art piece? I think a lot of the clothing crafted, outfits, hair and face-ups makes the consumers of BJDs artists in their own right, and maybe that transforms the dolls into an artist collaboration ^^