The Cabinet of Curiosities Challenge Part 2

Some of you may recall my previous Cabinet of Curiosities post from way back in June.  The challenge was to create a cabinet of curiosities within 3 weeks however, the year took a rather nasty turn and the death of a close friend followed by health issues hindered the creative process.  I should really be grateful that I actually completed the project in 3 months, although not quite as ambitious as the original 3 weeks I feel the end result is more than worth it.

At the end of my previous post the cabinet exterior was complete as well as the self unlocking padlock mechanism.  The interior was a blank canvas, four large sections of empty space ready to be filled with fantastical things.  The final cabinet can be broken down into 4 distinct sections and I will cover them individually.

The Odditorium

Taking inspiration from a typical cabinet of curiosity I wanted this section to be an assortment of inconsistant nooks and crannies in which the client could hide his tools of the trade.  The items that adorn the shelves each have a terrible tale or mysterious history that the owner can pluck at any point from the display to recount to his mesmerised audience.  There is even a slot for a deck of cards should needs must.  

Haunted Artifact Exhibition

The permanent resident of this mysterious corner of the cabinet is a haunted doll of such paranormal magnitude she has to be strapped down to prevent her from ‘wandering’.  Even the padlocked box is unable to contain the power of the doll as her ghostly hands have been known to pick the lock in an attempt to escape.  A selection of protective talismans and amulets dangle from the display in an endeavour to quell the evil forces than animate this bisque abomination. 

Spirit Communication Module

It has long been thought that mirrors are seen as windows to the spirit world.  The Spiritus Speculo Infinitum is a type of infinity mirror that opens a portal directly to the spirit realm.  Once present they may communicate using traditional methods such as bells and tambourines, if you listen carefully you may even hear them speak.  The drawers are filled with items once owned by the dead, these ’spirit catalysts’ are used to lure the spirits of the departed through the portal in order to communicate.  Some spirits may even leave gifts known as aports and some of these are on display in the cabinet. 

The Professor’s Library

A fitting repository for Prof BC’s classic Doppelgänger series, safely strapped in and protected from the inquisitive hands of the uninitiated.  In anticipation of Prof BC’s 'Realm of the Fairies', the pinned and mounted specimen of a winged mummified creature resides in silent protection of the tomes below.

The Spirit Theater

Finally, the cabinet converts into a spirit theater complete with velvet curtains and gold footlight shell lights to illuminate the horrors within.  Should the performer be feeling brave he may unstrap the haunted doll to give the audience a demonstration of her unearthly powers (from behind closed curtains of course!)

Thanks

A special thanks goes to the client who originally ordered this commission.  Your infallible patience and friendship combined with your artistic understanding of not rushing the creative process was most welcomed.  May the Cabinet of Curiosities bring you a lifetime of mystery and wonderment. 

She's Alive!!!

Here's the long awaited Dolly Darko update you've all been waiting for. I know that I said that this would be Dolly Darko MkII week, however I totally forgot about the bank holiday and that we had family visiting. This means my usual studio time has been spent entertaining the troops, although even given the limited time I have made great leaps forward in the design process.

Dolly's new cracked ceramic finish still retains the nasty pallor of the original but gives it a new look that I think is an improvement. The previous painting method could not be used as it would melt the 3D printed doll parts, this method also produced inconsistent finishes. Once painted there's no way of telling she's a 3D printed model, in fact she feels a cross between delicate porcelain and traditional paper mache.  The original Dolly weighed a ton, this new one is a fifth of the weight. In true Wurzel Gummidge fashion the heads are also swappable allowing users to tailor performances and it also gives me the opportunity to exploit a marketing opening and produce a collection of heads!

Without giving too much away technically the chips I use inside Dolly can be programmed very easily, by simply plugging in a USB cable you can define -

• The angle the head turns

• The delay from pressing the button to the head turning.

• The time it waits looking left or right before returning to centre

• The speed in which her head turns and much more

I'm also working on making her arms raise as is she is begging to be picked up. Space inside the doll is limited but theoretically the triggers that make dolly move can be either manual, remote control or by sensor .i.e movement or light. The programmable chips also mean that future updates, new features and custom performance programs can be installed by the user with ease.

The floating version of Dolly Darko will be a separate product. The prototype at this stage can lift her head, stand, walk and then float seemingly unassisted. Some clients have contacted me worried that this turns bizarre performance into some form of strange puppetry. I have reassured them that the story that accompanies Dolly Darko MkII gives a certain validity and reason for the 'puppet show' whilst still maintaining a visually disturbing yet entertaining performance.

Those attending Doomsday VII in Whitby in two weeks will hopefully be able to see Dolly Darko MkII on display. You never know, she may even look at you and wave...

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Ann: the haunted doll webcast

For those waiting on news of Dolly Darko MkII here's something to give you a creepy doll fix. Ann: The Haunted Doll as you will soon read has all the typical tropes of a routine we bizarrists have been conjuring up for years. The mental asylum, the caretaker, the doll, the death of a young girl – I could've written this myself, but I didn't! Do think it's true or just a publicity stunt to boost viewing numbers of The Haunted Collector on Destination America? I'll leave that choice up to you...

People often think of ghosts haunting buildings or people, but haunted objects have fascinated GHOST HUNTERS for ages. Now, the network that brought you EXORCISM: LIVE! is giving ANN: THE HAUNTED DOLL her own live webcast. Destination America is devoted to telling the stories of the unknown, from alien encounters, to the quest for Bigfoot, and now, Ann. DestinationAmerica.com has partnered with THE LINEUP - a hot new digital destination for fans of true crime, horror, the mysterious, and the paranormal - to broadcast ANN: THE HAUNTED DOLL to the masses, 24/7. Check the live stream any time in the next two weeks at DestinationAmerica.com or THE LINEUP to check if Ann moves, blinks, cries, or does her signature move, waves.

Ann is currently living in The Lineup's New York offices under constant surveillance via web cam, and the office has already reported strange occurrences since Ann's arrival, such as hearing faint cries and experiencing technical difficulties with the feed. After two weeks, it will be time for Ann to move on to a new, loving family. Anyone interested in giving Ann a proper home can enter to win by stating why they would make the best caretaker for ANN: THE HAUNTED DOLL.

So who is Ann? The original Ann was a 13-year-old girl treated for tuberculosis at Waverly Hills Sanatorium in the early 1900s. One of Ann's caretakers a very devoted and attached woman named Lois. When the children succumbed to their illnesses, it was believed that the spirits followed Lois home, hoping she would continue to care for them. Lois began her doll collection to help house the unfortunate souls, and while she has since passed, she kept a detailed journal about all of her dolls. Lois claims that Ann was terrified of the dark and that her spirit, who lives on in the doll, still cries out in the middle of the night. Paranormal investigators called in to examine Ann have reported a severe drop in temperature and strange odors in her presence, and there have been reports of a tear running down Ann's cheek, as well as waving motions in her right arm.

No one is more fascinated by haunted objects than John Zaffis, a paranormal investigator and demonologist who has specialized in this type of haunting for nearly four decades, and works to remove any unwanted ghostly objects from peoples' homes. His research is the focus on HAUNTED COLLECTOR, currently in network premieres on Destination America on Tuesdays at 10/9c. In HAUNTED COLLECTOR, John and his paranormal team travel to help various people in need by identifying and removing any trigger objects that may the source of unwanted activity. Through the years, he has amassed thousands of possessed objects that he keeps in his bizarre museum, where visitors report feeling an evil presence upon entering the building.

OBSERVATION LOG

Pre-Live Cam

We unboxed Ann, who was wrapped tightly in bubble wrap, without incident. (Watch the video.)

Over the next couple days, we worked around Ann, setting up the camera feed in a large storage closet, where she’s currently living. During that time, a few strange things happened.

• Two coworkers, whose desks are against the wall that separates the main office space from Ann’s room, heard a faint whining noise. One person even asked the whole room to be silent because she was positive she heard a child crying. No one else heard this noise.

• Two different coworkers set up an EMF sensor near Ann while they were working in her vicinity. The meter was silent the whole time. Then one of them asked her a direct question: “Hello, Ann. Welcome to our office. Do you like your new home?” Twenty seconds later, the detector’s light started flashing and wouldn’t stop. We haven’t seen it light up since.

• The day after the live feed was finally established, a coworker arrived at the office and noticed the feed had stopped at 8:27 p.m. the previous night. He went into Ann’s room and saw the magnetic power cord that attached to the laptop had been physically disconnected. No one was in the office at that time.

Source

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Guys & Dolls Part 3 - Head like a Hole

After some tinkering in MeshMixer the first Dolly Darko head 3D print was faultless. As the print is completely hollow the print time was less than an hour which opens the possibility of printing a full doll in a single day.

The print is also extremely light with the fully painted head weighing in at only 24 grams which means a complete doll should weigh around 200 grams fully clothed. For people worried about the weight and feel of the doll, you'd be surprised it was made of plastic as the material once painted feels more like traditional paper mache. In no way does it feel or look like it was made using cutting edge technology.

The paint finish on the head is slightly over the top but I wanted to see how battered and nasty I could make her. A more toned down, cared for antique look will also be available to the more faint hearted.

The printer is currently churning out the torso so a full doll might feature in next weeks blog.

Guys & Dolls Part 2 – Dolly Darko goes digital

Dolly Darko has come a long way since I discovered her dusty body in a Parisian antique shop over a decade ago.  She's been entombed in silicone and cracked and dropped so many times the original bisque doll is a sorry sight. The moulds used to create the forty or so Dolly Darko dolls are also on their last legs and have begun to fall apart.

In an attempt to immortalise Dolly in the digital realm I have started the task of 3D scanning all of the parts. Not only will this allow me to reproduce Dolly once again without the need of casting and moulding equipment but I will also be able to digitally restore any damage thus making her perfect once again. At some point in the past her right thigh was totally destroyed however, through 3D scanning I've been able to scan the left thigh and mirror it via the software editor to make a brand new right thigh.

Once all of the components are scanned and saved I can print Dolly in any size and colour but more importantly, I can print her with a hollow torso and head. This gives me the opportunity to install servos and other gadgetry that will make Dolly even scarier than her resin counterpart. It will also make her 80% lighter than the original which introduces the possibility of puppetry. A doll version of Losander's floating table anyone? By implementing this amazing new technology it is all possible, although the journey to get this far has been one hell of a steep learning curve!

As well as capturing Dolly Darko digitally I have also started to capture all of my other existing antique doll and vent doll heads for future projects. Even if one should become lost or damaged I'm only a few hours of printing away from a new one. It's a facility that will become invaluable in the studio and I'll never have to endure my collectibles to the rigours of silicone and latex ever again. As strange as it sounds, the ability to scan and reproduce any object leaves you with an almost god like feeling!

Next time I will compare a few test prints with the original parts of Dolly Darko in terms of detail and weight. It finally looks like Dolly Darko MkII could be a chilling reality, only this time she'll be much scarier than before...

Guys & Dolls Part 1 – Vent Yourself

After a few years of successful 3D printing the next logical progression was to purchase a 3D scanner. I had been monitoring the market for a while but nothing was available that fitted my criteria at a reasonable price, that was until the Einscan-S came along. This scanner adopts structure white light scanning technology, which features faster scanning speed (3 minutes /circle, much faster than similar desktop 3d scanners), lower noise, better details (accuracy ≤0.1mm) and safer for eyes compared to laser scanning technology. What does this mean to the non-techie? It means I can scan a human face, manipulate and print it at any size. So like me, if you're in the business of making creepy dolls this type of tool creates endless possibilities.

Taking inspiration from Evelyn Poole's collection of voodoo ventriloquist dolls from Penny Dreadful Season 2 I have started a mini project to 'vent' myself. There's something very peculiar about holding an exact copy of your own face in the palm of your hand. The process is quick and significantly less messy than entombing someones head in alginate and creating casts with buckets of plaster. The first scan was printed in white ABS and once the eyes were added my face came alive. Followers on Facebook will have seen me attaching my 'mini me' to various dolls with truly disturbing results.

When you invest money into a piece of kit like this the first thing that crosses your mind from a business perspective if how you're going to recoup that money. Having only played with my new toy for 2 weeks I can see that 3D scanning and printing will become the workhorse of the studio and my mind is overflowing with ideas and possibilities. Personalised ventriloquist dolls are just a start and I already have people lining up to donate their faces and be immortalised in plastic. I'm one step closer to my Braavos 'Temple of Many Faces'. Valar morghulis!

Next week work begins on Dolly Darko MkII...