A BJD – Art or Toy?

Here's another one of my think pieces on this doll hobby. Is a BJD a piece of art or just a toy like any other doll? This is something that I’ve been pondering upon for a while now. Most people seem to consider BJDs as art dolls. There’s a lot of talk about supporting the artist behind these beautiful dolls and the prices most certainly are set to further establish these dolls are art or collectible, rather than toys. But what makes them more “art” than some other dolls out there?

Adult’s Doll

Generally speaking dolls are of course toys (dictionary definition: a small figure representing a baby or other human being, especially for use as a child's toy). No one would deny that their principle function is that of a toy. They can be seen as decorations or art pieces as well, set on display, but very often we adult doll owners also do something with our dolls. We dress the dolls, we come up with stories for them, we comb their hair, we have them on display, but we also haul them around, photograph them, share them with other collectors and what not. We may not sit on the floor and make the dolls talk aloud, as we’re used to seeing children do, but in many ways, the manner in which we adults “play” with our dolls is not an awful lot different from the way a child plays with theirs.

Justification

Adult doll owners very often need a justification for owning a doll, for themselves, as well as for their families and friends, so as to not look childish, weird or silly. Adults owning dolls are often considered eccentric by the “normal” people (who themselves secretly collect plastic bags, bottle caps or chain saws!). Dolls are widely considered creepy and horror movies are made of them on regular basis, so I’m not surprised that doll collectors feel the need to find some justification for their hobby. They need a way to prove that the dolls are something more, something valuable and interesting. This need has spawned the collectible dolls, that are by definition:

*more expensive

*higher quality

*more elaborate (clothing, make-up, hair-dos and accessories)

*sometimes more fragile

*meant for display (come with stands)

*limited in quantities or other ways rare

*designed by artists or other well known names

*customized by artists

*handmade by artists

Collectible dolls I suppose have been divided roughly into vintage/antique dolls, handcrafted dolls, modern fashion dolls and the Asian style ball jointed dolls. Each have their own collector base with differently accented interests.

Limited or Mass Produced

Modern collectible fashion dolls (such as produced by Mattel, Integrity Toys, Tonner, Ashton-Drake, Groove etc.) tend to be slightly less appreciated than BJDs due to the mass production aspect. They’re often produced, while usually in limited editions, still in rather large quantities, often from LE50 to well over a 1000. The fashion doll companies release a doll with photos and information and often take pre-orders, but they have a set amount of the dolls in a given line, that they mean to produce, that is already decided beforehand. BJDs on the other hand are made to order. A BJD company also releases their goods with promotional photos and share information, but the dolls will not get made unless you order one. However, in reality even a BJD is factory produced, is mass produced even, to a certain degree. Often there will be lots more of one kind of a BJD around than of one kind of a limited fashion doll. So quantities alone cannot, I suppose, decide this issue.

BJDs are promoted as artist dolls with a reference to the fact that they are individually handcrafted according to your preferences from the company models, with options for you to choose. I often get these type of choice from the line-up of offerings with a BJD company:

* skintone (very often only normal and white, but some company offer more choice there. Tan is often limited to events)

*head sculpt (usually several options)

* body sculpt (usually very few options, often only one)

*mobility joint

*with or without face-up

*with or without blushing

*with or without clothes/wig/eyes (often one set of these proposed)

*some hand or feet part options

* additional fantasy part options (sometimes available, often limited)

Certainly, to some degree, I can build up my BJD doll, with the options available. More often than not though, I'm limited to very few options within one BJD company and I need to shop around at several companies to build up that dream doll.

With fashion dolls I can choose some of those same things by simply selecting the doll that meets with my specifications from the line-up of offerings. Fashion doll companies usually have a couple of body types on offer as well as several head sculpts. I can choose for myself that tan Vanessa Perrin with the blond hair and the newest body type from Integrity Dolls. I can choose to have my fashion doll customized by another artist or do it myself, just the same as I can do with a BJD. I can have it rerooted or wigged, repainted or custom outfit made for it. It becomes rather unique after that. The same goes for a BJDs. Very often it’s the extra work and effort that the owner puts into the doll in fact, that makes it unique and special, with BJDs and fashion dolls alike.

More handy work does go into a BJD, but both fashion dolls and BJDs are sculpted or designed by an artist, often both have hand-painted or handcrafted parts. In fact the differences between BJDs and fashion dolls are minimal in this respect. Both are made in factories. Both are produced in large quantities. Neither is sculpted for just one customer. Neither is One-Of-A-Kind.

The Artist Behind The Doll

BJDs are very often hailed as art, whereas modern fashion dolls are rarely considered to be art as such. They’re thought of as fine collectibles to be sure, but not necessarily art, even if for example Tonner dolls are for the most part the vision of one man. Mr Robert Tonner has sculpted and designed himself a lot of dolls his company produces. Therefore we know who the artist behind those certain dolls is. When I introduce my Tonner’s Tyler Wentworth doll to anyone, I can share the name of the artist: this is the art work of Robert Tonner. I can show off my Jason Wu designed Integrity doll and even some non-doll-people might recognize the fashion designer’s name. As an adult collector, I can take pride in the fact that I own a doll from this artist, in a very similar way that owners can show off a painting by a given artist. However, if I wanted to present my BJDs to my friends or relatives, I could only very rarely share the name of the artist. Only small and mostly American or European BJD artists share their name with their customer base. For the most part, I have no idea who is the sculptor, the face-up /clothing designer or the face-up artist behind my Asian BJDs. Naturally, one does not need to know the name of the artist in order to consider something as art, but it would help to justify the cost, as well as the art aspect of the doll, to have some such credentials. I would personally like to know the names of the people who worked on my BJD and who sculpted it in particular.

As the expression the artist's imaginative or technical skill or as a product intended to be appreciated for their beauty, how does a BJD differ from any other kind of a doll out there? Is a BJD somehow more worthy as a sculpture? Is a BJD more deserving of the title “art”, than say a Monster High doll? I personally tend think very highly of the sculptor(s)/designer(s) of Monster High dolls. Someone must have designed them and whoever that is, has done some incredibly detailed and imaginative work – work that in quality surpasses that of many BJD sculptors, in my own opinion. While Monster High dolls are appreciated and enjoyed by collectors as well as children, very few people would immediately associate them with the term “art”, but rather rank them as “toys”. Is that merely because they are mass produced, not particularly limited or rare? Does mass production immediately erase the value of the artistry that has gone into the design?

An Art Doll

I suppose in the end we each can decide for ourselves what fits our bill. I personally would not rank a BJD any higher in value, any more art or any less a toy, than the rest of the dolls out there in the world, even if they are my favourite dolls at the moment or the most expensive dolls that I own. I find BJDs even a bit too glorified for their own good. They are still just dolls, more like any other dolls than we collectors/BJD owners would perhaps like to think. Often the prices and the status attached to BJDs is not particularly well justified at all. Maybe my opinion stems from my fashion doll collector background and from my great appreciation of historical items, such as vintage dolls, or maybe I’m just silly enough to admit, I play with toys! I don’t know.

I got to thinking about this when I received my Eastern Light Studio animals and I got to experience what a true custom order art piece feels like. My ELS animals I do consider pure art. They are 100% unique, no others exactly like them exist now or ever will. They were made by an artist I know by name from scratch, with her vision and skills. For me, in order for a doll to be a pure art doll, it would need to be a genuine OOAK as well – made from scratch, sculpted, painted and brought to its full glory by the artist(s). No other doll like that would exist. Differently customized versions of mass produced models can have high artistic value for sure, but for me that does not qualify as an art doll. It’s like a custom painted Toyota, but it’s still a Toyota underneath. That original sculpture that BJD company artist sculpted is the true piece of art - not the replica made from it.

Future of The Ball Jointed Doll

The way I see it, a doll manufacturer is a doll manufacturer no matter which angle you look at it from. Instead of trying to sell that so-called art doll with the outrageous price tag, perhaps some more evident mass production would not go amiss with BJD companies as well? I realize resin is toxic, hard to handle and needs a lot of work before it’s presentable, which makes a resin doll more costly to produce. Perhaps it would be time to seriously explore other types of plastic to use in BJDs, that would not be a health hazard for workers and that would be more easily produced? I just can’t help thinking perhaps it would benefit the BJD industry to have a less pretentious approach to the business… or alternatively then the BJD companies ought to actually start offering products that would properly merit that “art” status as well as the elevated price tag.