Toy, Work of Art, Or Both?

I think of them as interactive art. I choose them for the beauty and/or creativity of the sculpting. Then they are a creative outlet for me as I individualize their look and make costumes for them.

 

I think BJD's usually are toys, but they have the potential to become art. It depends on what the original artist's intention is. As soon as (s)he's creating a OOAK, intended to be put on display and portraying a specific idea, it becomes art.

In the Netherlands there is a violin on display in a museum that is completely created in Delftware. Although a violin on its own is 'just' an object to be used, because this artist did something new with it, it suddenly became art.

But yeah, usually dolls are toys. Doesn't make the artist any less of a sculptor, though.

 

I think BJDs are interactive art. They are usually MEANT to be played with which is the reason they are jointed in my opinion. Sure, I play with my/my sisters BJDs, but I would never call them toys...they are too expensive and beautiful to be called that >.> lol.
I like to take my sisters MNF Rheia in particular (especially when my sis is watching me rofl) and make her do funny stuff, like singing that she's a "Minifee-fee-fee~" "MiniFEE~~!" while waving her arms around in these funny gestures haha. So yah, to me they are playart. I would be quite sad if I could only JUST look at them. That's what I get figures/figmas for.

 

I love the term 'interactive art'. The ONLY time I'd call BJDs 'toys' would be to tax officials... I guess if you call a Ferrari a 'toy' as some do then these are as well. However most of us use them as tools for artistic expression, or to create OOAK works of art. And like it or not in the English lexicon right now calling something an adult owns a 'toy' is either belittling the object (often used towards collectibles by someone irked at the 'waste & expense' of something 'trivial' - just had one of these conversations w/a very sober, serious save-the-earth type ~sigh~) or belittling the person (see the above about the expensive car - boys & their toys etc... that's mocking, even if done sweetly, kindly w/love). So for those insisting on calling their very expensive, rare, artfully crafted, hand finished dolls 'toys' I figure they either want to crash the above standard meanings of the word 'toy' or they don't take themselves or their hobby very seriously. Not my problem, just my observation...

 

For me, I don't think dolls are art, at least they don't fit my personal perception of what art is (I'm an aspiring writer). I don't think they're toys either. I think they're like self-made jewelry or knitting. It's a hobby. Like photography can be a hobby for some people, or any other crafting..thing. If someone made photostories that were really high quality and wanted to publish them and people would buy those stories as books, for example, then I maybe would consider the dolls in the stories part of the artwork. I think art is something that someone decided to make, and that person thinks of his/her work as art.

So I guess I think dolls are art if their owner feels that way. : )

 

I play with them a little, but I consider them more a work of art or a collectors item...

 

Absolutely, works of art, especially as they are not meant for children due to the amount of care they require. For me it is definitely an art piece that incorporates all of my favourite hobbies.

 

They are interactive art pieces. I am buying other people's art and contributing to it, remaking it, making it my own -- always and forever a work in progress. It's like assembling a beautiful puzzle, only a lot of the pieces are missing, and it's up to me to recreate them. ^_^

Edit: I was happy I did a short post because all my posts tend to run long... then I realized I wanted to add my definition of art, since a lot of people are doing that. ^^; Well, I tried to keep it short!
First off, I'm an artist --I'm a photographer by hobby, I'm a writer on my own time, and my profession is that of animator and illustrator. With various forms of art in my background, I've had the pleasure to construct a definition for what I think art is in such a way as to apply it to all my mediums. This is what I've come up with:

Art is an idea shared with an audience.

It can be an audience of one, or an audience of thousands. And that isn't to say that all ideas are art, because they aren't; but all art is an idea that is displayed in some form for others to consume.

And what makes art beautiful, what makes it everlasting, is the interpretation of that art. I can listen to a song and think it's about freedom, but someone else can listen to the same song and think it's about the fear of the unknown. I can watch Dexter and believe it is a show about man's struggles with the good and darkness in one's soul, and someone else can watch Dexter and see it as a story of a mistakes frequently repeated in order to find "where it all went wrong."
And the more entwined in art we become, the more the art inspires us -- Star Wars has one of the largest expanded universes in existence. Munnies can be sweet renditions of little siblings or monstrous interpretations of a cyborg villain. And we've seen what our fellow hobbyists have done with their collections! Writing whole series with their doll's character in the center. Taking beautiful photographs in an attempt to capture emotion in a never-changing expression. Modding the dolls themselves to become animals, or aliens, or the monsters under our beds.
And it all starts with someone else's artwork. There is a person, right now, either pulling vertices in a 3D program or pressing their fingers into the hard clay of a roughly shaped cheekbone, developing a piece of art that will soon be sold as a new doll. They will need to create a concept for it, give it a name and a personality and maybe even a brief backstory, and they will then release it for our consumption. And who knows what art will come from us as a direct result of our interaction with said new doll?

Art can be so many things. It can take on any shape, any form. It can be experience through taste, touch, smell, hearing -- not just sight. Art needs to be self-sustaining -- that is, art must inspire new art, constantly. At the very least, Art is an idea which gets us thinking, evaluating, and even conceptualizing.

I think BJDs are exactly that -- an art piece. An idea we use as a platform to build out our own ideas. Interactive art.

Sorry for the long post. I get really passionate about things sometimes. o_o;

 

I see them as models. I test patterns on them and use them for drawing. They are also there to be soothing to the eye and comforting.

 

I'd say BJDs are both Art and toys. They are sculpted and individually cast and assembled. Collectors add to the existing are with mods, face ups, sewing, and photographing. They are also subject to the dark side of the art world, forgeries and imitations. However they are also designed to be posed and redressed. I play with mine, but also the OT jointed fashion dolls that led me to BJDs. The BJDs can't go in the glass fronted cabinet because it's already crowded with dolls and my own artwork! Steiff stuffed animals are also quite pricey "toys". I think BJDs are far more enjoyable to play with than say Barbies, which we agree are generally just toys. So maybe interactive art is a better term than toy, but I think they can be both.

 

I'd say that they're both. A lot of craftsmanship can go into dolls, some can be very fragile, and some are just for viewing pleasure. Art's very subjective anyway. I had a miniature statue replica once, it sat on my shelf, nice to view, but the doll is different. I like to play with her; I can play with my doll, if I choose. (And I do! She's fun to snuggle.)

 

As an artist myself... Yes. They're as much art as a nice artist print is art (just went to see the print-making studio in my school... you tell them what they do isn't art). The originals were meticulously sculpted in the image of the sculptor's vision, and then reproduced as part of the artistic process.

They're a unique kind of art that I can add to and make it my own. In that sense, they are also a canvas for art and self-expression. I don't think you can say that for any other type of art out there. ^^

That being said, how much I perceive my dolls as art sort of varies depending on the circumstances. For whatever reason, I'm more inclined to think my small artist dolls as "art" rather than dolls from a big company, even though they're made with the exact same process, and for all intents and purposes, I utilize them in the same exact way. I guess it's because the "connection" (real or imagined, heh) with the actual sculptor makes it much more personal, and therefore, you're more inclined to bestow meaning upon the actual doll? I dunno.

I mean, it's not like any BJD company can really be considered a "big" one. But when you actually speak to the person who sculpts, sands, and packs your doll... Somehow it feels a little different.

 

I guess, that for me, they are toys, art, and a source of comfort. They're art to me because they're beautiful and because I put a lot of time into thinking up backstories for them. They're toys because I do cuddle them and pull them out so that I can randomly pose them or undress/redress them. They're such a big source of comfort because they represent a lot of hard work to me, and cuddling with them or doing just about anything with them makes me feel so much better when I'm upset.

 

Definitely both to me. There are some dolls that are amazingly well sculpted & painted that I see mainly as art yet they still get played with so they're also a toy. That's one of my favorite things about BJDs that they are beautiful, fascinating works of art that I can be interactive with rather than just sit on a shelf & be pretty.

 

Perhaps toys and art, for me.

I deeply respect and admire the amount of work that goes into them as a whole, from being built to the faceups/body blushing, as well as the clothes and accessories made for them. Everything about them definitely screams art to me.

But I also enjoy playing with them! My dolls don't just sit around all the time to collect dust. I carry them around the house, cuddle with them while I'm working on the computer, etc. I enjoy coming up with stories and characters for them, and talking with them like little children or something. So, I suppose I also consider them toys, in that sense. Expensive toys, haha.

 

I can't see them as toys no matter how hard I try. Maybe because I don't play with them and I think that giving a child a BJD to play with like a barbie doll is just waste of money and probably not safe considering how toxic resin is. Besides, they are not really mass produced. If they were, they would be available in toy shops world wide and not very specific places. It also wouldn't take 2 to 8 months to make.

I find that BJDs are works of art. Someone has drawn them, designed them, sculpted them (even if digitally) and even after they are cast in resin they need to be worked on. When they are ready and sold they continue to be works of art as they can be painted and customised. I only use them for that and photography, so for me, this hobby is about creativity and art.

 

works of art. i have seen the work that gets put into customized face ups, tattoos, piercings, and other mods and they are absolutely beautiful when done. i find it the same as an artist spending hours working on an oil painting or a sculptor on a figurine.

 

Well, i've tried, but i can't think of them as toys. And i play with them tho, like, carry around, pose them, cuddle sometimes, touch their hair(a lot of that). But i'm being so freaking gentle, careful and cautious like it's a work of art. I can't play with them the way i used to play with toys as a child, simply because they are something too beautiful, too breakable(too expensive also) to be treated like regular toys usually are. So they are basically a lot more of art works to me, if you can think of playing with an art work, idk...

 

Literature is considered art and books are mass-produced in the millions. Music is another form of art, and how often have classical pieces been re-imagined and re-recorded over the centuries by inspired musicians? There are different forms of art, and I think BJDs fall into the artistic category. I believe art is anything that nurtures inspiration in any manner. Sure, a base model might be factory-produced with a hundred others just like it, but once an artist gets his or her hands on it, paints a custom face on it, gives it a custom outfit to wear, creates an original character around it, it becomes art. Same thing goes with any mass-produced doll sold in toy stores that get stripped of factory faces and hair and clothes and re-imagined as something completely original.

BJDs are toys (for grownups) in the sense that one can play with them and take pictures and such. They're art in the sense that they inspire people to create something unique and beautiful for others to enjoy, whether it's a photo-story, a novel, or the doll itself.

 

I see them as being art, toys, and models.
I'm pretty fond of toys, as long as they're quality made because even toys are an art form to me, but the term 'toy' for a bjd does seem a little odd. They are their own sort of category in my opinion.
A ball jointed doll is a ball jointed doll. Not like a barbie doll or plastic action figure.
But I tell people who don't know about them that they're 'extremely customizable art dolls' that can end up being pretty expensive.
But since I like to play with mine, I see them as being really super amazingly well crafted toys for those careful enough to play with them, I suppose. Definitely not a 'toy' I'd let just anyone handle though.