Come on [AI] Barbie, Let's Go Party
with Fabiola Larios 💞
🍒 This Week on Nicstalgia
Fabiola Larios is featured on this week's episode of Nicstalgia. We talk about Fabi’s Barbie exhibit at Yami-Ichi, subverting obsolescence and bringing new life to old and retro technology, AI-generated art on Fabi’s irreplaceable pink Disney Princess TV, the iconic 90s computer game Barbie Magic Hairstyler (y también Barbie Salón de Belleza).
We deep dive into rituals, societal conditioning, misconceptions of Barbie, and the meaning adults (not children) assign to Barbie, and how she’s really a representation of our society, projected onto a 12” piece of plastic. We contrast not just the image, but the messaging behind Barbie vs. Bratz and agree that Barbie is an intellectual and a badass.
We play a Dream Outfit and Dream Career game for AI-generated Fabi Barbie and tap into the imagination, play, levity, and joy that Barbie brought us as kids — and how we own that sentiment as adults.
Watch/listen: YouTube • Spotify • Apple Podcasts
I’m Just a Simple Girl in a High-Tech Digital World 📲
My fav [Barbie] things from the internet rn:
Keep an eye on my Instagram later today for an epic Barbie meme roundup; in the meantime, enjoy the vintage (yes, they’re considered vintage) commercials for some of my favorite 90s Barbies:
🌺 Tropical Splash Barbie (1995)
🛼 Hot Skatin’ Barbie (1995)
🤸🏻♀️ Olympic Gymnast Barbie (1995)
🩰 Twirling Ballerina Barbie (1996)
👡 Movin’ Groovin’ Barbie (1997)
Speaking of Barbie commercials, I loved watching 8 Barbie Commercials from 8 Different Decades. (Yes the 1950s-2020s is eight decades omg lol.) So obvious and interesting how the messaging reflects the cultural zeitgeist of each decade. Extra fascinating for the 21st century dolls, which represent the technological advancements of the time.
Enjoy Design Expert Breaks Down Barbie Dreamhouse Evolution (1962-Now) from Architectural Digest, How This Woman Designed Barbie's Most Iconic Outfits For 35 Years from Insider, and Trixie Mattel’s Trixie's Decades of Dolls 90s Barbies episode.
💿 Hey Mr. DJ, put a [playlist] on
Playlist of the week:
Barbie is often attributed as the inspiration for bimbofication, performative vapidity, and early 2000s Paris Hilton in a pink Juicy Couture tracksuit-esque trash. But as you know by now, I Am Trash, But I Am Free! Please enjoy this gorgeous playlist, Literal Trash, which celebrates overproduction, superficiality, low culture, and the subversion of exploitation of women. Male gaze WHO???
From McBling (early 2000s aesthetic, i.e. Danity Kane) to Bubblegum Bling (contemporary reinterpretation, i.e. Slayyyter) these songs are either your guilty pleasures or the songs you request the DJ play after a few too-strong tequila sodas. Lots of songs by reality TV starts that definitely should not have been allowed in the studio. But it’s all — in the words of the infamous Rebecca Black song “Friday” — “fun, fun, fun, fun”.
🧨 Spice Up Your Life
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