Futurepast Imaginary
Apr. 6th, 2025 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowazaleaI wanted to take some time to describe the present era for my dolls and my creative work, which is often but not always related to them.
My first era was defined by the phrase “A Garden of Virtues,” which I used as a name or description for various blogs and websites (some never deployed). My first BJD’s, Ophelia, Shelley, and Johnny, were the main players in this world. The dolls had child-like but gothic aspects to them, as was the fashion in early 00’s BJD culture: large eyes, child-like bodies, gothic clothing and face-ups. “A Garden of Virtues” captured my sense of my dolls as wandering in a dark and potentially sinister garden, where it would not always be clear what was virtue and what was vice. This sense was also foundational in my Cristalle world, where Ophelia, Shelley, Johnny, and eventually many others lived.
Even though I place this “A Garden of Virtues” era between the years 2004-2008, I still consider it a living space that I add to. My ambition for the future was to collect “FCS orphans,” phrasing mine, when I had plenty of disposable income. I felt there was something tragic about all the old unwanted Volks FCS dolls, each part design, not just face sculpt, but also even hands and feet, carefully selected by the owner, and purchased at a price I still find too steep, and then one day to be found old, yellowed, and discarded in Dollyteria and similar stores. The “FCS orphans” as well as my own dolls (only one of which is a FCS orphan, Jude, my MSD FCS F-15) have a sense about them of a long-ago tragedy that will never be resolved, can never be resolved, and that sense is still very much alive and with me.
My second era, “Forest Violets,” was solidified with a corresponding blog and an extensive story set in late 18th century Europe, around the time of the French Revolution. This era began with Leslie, a doll I got when I got in 2010, a Souldoll Asiter I no longer have, after leaving the BJD hobby in 2008 and clearing out all of my dolls and most of their clothing and supplies. The SD- and Model-size dolls I acquired in quick succession corresponded to the “Forest Violets” era, and I would describe the era as beginning in 2011 and waning in 2016 or so. My attention after 2016 was directed toward the “A Garden of Virtues” era, for which I felt intense nostalgia, and for several years after, I put a lot more story-building into “A Garden of Virtues.”
My “Futurepast" imaginary has two poles, between which I am constantly pulled: Chinese “soft power” and identification with the Victorian period, a kind of cultural nostalgia. Like… ha ha… the old Blade Runner movie, I seem to equate the future with Asia. From China I sense a strength, cohesiveness, and diversity that will long outlast my crumbling society. Chinese aesthetics communicate other lifeways to me without words to which I feel deeply attracted. I have even started learning Mandarin. To tell the truth, I feel ashamed about that (the reason why is that often learning a language is associated with trying to find a romantic partner in that culture or something like that), but I am really not at peace unless I find a way to incorporate that into my life, so it is better to acknowledge that I want to be fluent in Mandarin one day to have better access to the aesthetics that inspire me. These aesthetics are primarily BJD-related. My Flynn Doll Lily was a rare opportunity (the only one I’ve seen so far) to have a doll with this kind of aesthetic myself. Even though I gave my doll a name, Dorothy, she isn’t the same as my other BJD’s in that she probably won’t appear in any of my storytelling. I can’t see her interacting with my other doll characters. She’s tied to that larger world, that future, and links me to it.
Then, my dolls that represent the past are my Franklin Mint and Tonner 16” vinyl dolls. Their exquisite costumes express my desire for the time period that the Victorian-era novels I read immerse me in. They radiate presences, rather than express characters, in the same way Dorothy does. They are not really “individuals” like the dolls of the “A Garden of Virtues” and “Forest Violets” eras.
I think that general BJD culture has had an impact on these imaginaries as well in that in the early 00’s, BJD’s were such an expression of individuality. It was really the thing to develop complex profiles for them, often with a gothic bent, and to take them out in public. In the 2010’s, the culture shifted, clothing and accessories became widely accessible and cheap, and DIY was no longer a badge of pride. Plus, algorithms ensured that the “best” photos and most ornate dolls were prevalent in people’s “feeds,” which shaped the culture toward one of baroque perfectionism and hyperrealism. I think my “Forest Violets” era absorbed the sentiments of baroque excess.
My first exposure to the “new” BJD look that attracted me was through Pinterest in the past year or two. I collected countless images of dolls there. I guessed they were from foreign social media networks to which I might not have access. Then, I discovered Rednote, which is a treasure trove of this kind of content and admittedly has escalated my desire to learn Mandarin to better access this content.
The “past” part of my “Futurepast” imaginary also includes Lady Lovelylocks, Flower Princesses, and Hugga Bunch. I guess also Barbie, but I have had Barbies all along, so I don’t know. So, it includes this cozy child-like nostalgia, this sinking into a sweet dream of comfort on a Lady Lovelylocks pillow while holding a Hugga Bunch doll, while an awareness streams into the dream of a future of a dominant power with greater resilience and cultural potency than my decaying surroundings that hold these Victorian remnants I collect from antique stores or read as downloaded books.
My first era was defined by the phrase “A Garden of Virtues,” which I used as a name or description for various blogs and websites (some never deployed). My first BJD’s, Ophelia, Shelley, and Johnny, were the main players in this world. The dolls had child-like but gothic aspects to them, as was the fashion in early 00’s BJD culture: large eyes, child-like bodies, gothic clothing and face-ups. “A Garden of Virtues” captured my sense of my dolls as wandering in a dark and potentially sinister garden, where it would not always be clear what was virtue and what was vice. This sense was also foundational in my Cristalle world, where Ophelia, Shelley, Johnny, and eventually many others lived.
Even though I place this “A Garden of Virtues” era between the years 2004-2008, I still consider it a living space that I add to. My ambition for the future was to collect “FCS orphans,” phrasing mine, when I had plenty of disposable income. I felt there was something tragic about all the old unwanted Volks FCS dolls, each part design, not just face sculpt, but also even hands and feet, carefully selected by the owner, and purchased at a price I still find too steep, and then one day to be found old, yellowed, and discarded in Dollyteria and similar stores. The “FCS orphans” as well as my own dolls (only one of which is a FCS orphan, Jude, my MSD FCS F-15) have a sense about them of a long-ago tragedy that will never be resolved, can never be resolved, and that sense is still very much alive and with me.
My second era, “Forest Violets,” was solidified with a corresponding blog and an extensive story set in late 18th century Europe, around the time of the French Revolution. This era began with Leslie, a doll I got when I got in 2010, a Souldoll Asiter I no longer have, after leaving the BJD hobby in 2008 and clearing out all of my dolls and most of their clothing and supplies. The SD- and Model-size dolls I acquired in quick succession corresponded to the “Forest Violets” era, and I would describe the era as beginning in 2011 and waning in 2016 or so. My attention after 2016 was directed toward the “A Garden of Virtues” era, for which I felt intense nostalgia, and for several years after, I put a lot more story-building into “A Garden of Virtues.”
My “Futurepast" imaginary has two poles, between which I am constantly pulled: Chinese “soft power” and identification with the Victorian period, a kind of cultural nostalgia. Like… ha ha… the old Blade Runner movie, I seem to equate the future with Asia. From China I sense a strength, cohesiveness, and diversity that will long outlast my crumbling society. Chinese aesthetics communicate other lifeways to me without words to which I feel deeply attracted. I have even started learning Mandarin. To tell the truth, I feel ashamed about that (the reason why is that often learning a language is associated with trying to find a romantic partner in that culture or something like that), but I am really not at peace unless I find a way to incorporate that into my life, so it is better to acknowledge that I want to be fluent in Mandarin one day to have better access to the aesthetics that inspire me. These aesthetics are primarily BJD-related. My Flynn Doll Lily was a rare opportunity (the only one I’ve seen so far) to have a doll with this kind of aesthetic myself. Even though I gave my doll a name, Dorothy, she isn’t the same as my other BJD’s in that she probably won’t appear in any of my storytelling. I can’t see her interacting with my other doll characters. She’s tied to that larger world, that future, and links me to it.
Then, my dolls that represent the past are my Franklin Mint and Tonner 16” vinyl dolls. Their exquisite costumes express my desire for the time period that the Victorian-era novels I read immerse me in. They radiate presences, rather than express characters, in the same way Dorothy does. They are not really “individuals” like the dolls of the “A Garden of Virtues” and “Forest Violets” eras.
I think that general BJD culture has had an impact on these imaginaries as well in that in the early 00’s, BJD’s were such an expression of individuality. It was really the thing to develop complex profiles for them, often with a gothic bent, and to take them out in public. In the 2010’s, the culture shifted, clothing and accessories became widely accessible and cheap, and DIY was no longer a badge of pride. Plus, algorithms ensured that the “best” photos and most ornate dolls were prevalent in people’s “feeds,” which shaped the culture toward one of baroque perfectionism and hyperrealism. I think my “Forest Violets” era absorbed the sentiments of baroque excess.
My first exposure to the “new” BJD look that attracted me was through Pinterest in the past year or two. I collected countless images of dolls there. I guessed they were from foreign social media networks to which I might not have access. Then, I discovered Rednote, which is a treasure trove of this kind of content and admittedly has escalated my desire to learn Mandarin to better access this content.
The “past” part of my “Futurepast” imaginary also includes Lady Lovelylocks, Flower Princesses, and Hugga Bunch. I guess also Barbie, but I have had Barbies all along, so I don’t know. So, it includes this cozy child-like nostalgia, this sinking into a sweet dream of comfort on a Lady Lovelylocks pillow while holding a Hugga Bunch doll, while an awareness streams into the dream of a future of a dominant power with greater resilience and cultural potency than my decaying surroundings that hold these Victorian remnants I collect from antique stores or read as downloaded books.
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Date: 2025-04-06 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-08 11:15 am (UTC)