HiBarbie (2023)

for solo percussion, visuals and live-electronics

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Am I just a PLASTIC?

Barbie has already become a definite noun.

Barbie is already a symbol.

Barbie couldn’t ignore the change.

Barbie accepted.

Barbie became a Barbie.

Barbie became that Barbie.

Barbie became this Barbie.

Barbie still accepts what’s left.

Barbie accepts still.​​​

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Performed by Henry Heizmann (Percussionist) 

Video & Audio Production by ZKM

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Published in Graphème, Volume 6, by Smallest Functional Unit, Berlin​

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HiBarbie (2023) is a multimedia percussion work combining live performance, visual elements, and electronic sounds. The performer explores the nude body of a Barbie doll with a DPA microphone and an endoscopic camera while simultaneously playing the barcode scanner and snare drum. The exploration is shown in greater detail on screen, placing the audience in a voyeuristic position. Also, the barcode scanner functions not only as a device for reading information, but also as an instrument and interface through which the performer accesses sounds and images composed in advance. Each barcode triggers sounds and images corresponding to the part of Barbie’s body being explored in real time. These sounds and images originate from different temporalities, yet overlap through similar camera angles.

 

Barbie is like a mirror that reflects the changing currents of the times. It is also a symbol of critique. Early Barbie embodied gender stereotypes through her slim body, long legs, blonde hair, and idealized lifestyle, while later, in response to changes in social perceptions and values, she came to represent a wider range of professions, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and body types. HiBarbie focuses on this dual position of Barbie. More specifically, Barbie is both a subject shaped by society and a presence that embodies changing social meanings and creates new ones. Rather than viewing Barbie as a symbol of consumerism or sexual stereotypes, the composer sees her as a figure that has continuously changed and embraced new meanings in response to the changing currents of each era, even if these changes were unavoidable in response to the demands of each time. The composer sees this process of change as a positive force and a possibility. The question “Am I just a PLASTIC?” becomes another starting point for reflecting on the relationship between Barbie’s material nature and her changing social meanings. The word plastic, derived from the Greek plastikos, meaning “to form” or “to transform,” suggests that, like plastic, which appears fixed yet can continually take new forms, Barbie, already a noun and a symbol, can also be understood through the audience’s own perspectives, experiences, and meanings within this work.