Sunday, February 6, 2011

Barbie doll therapy

Who knew building a miniature city with Barbie doll alter-egos of people in one's real life could be such great therapy!

After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Mark populates the town he dubs "Marwencol" with dolls representing his friends and family and creates life-like photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack. When Mark and his photographs are discovered, a prestigious New York gallery sets up an art show. Suddenly Mark's homemade therapy is deemed "art", forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack.

It's lucky that Mark took such great photos, though, or he might have never been found.

Check out his website and the documentary if you can find it, it's very interesting.




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