Japanese artist Ayano Tsukimi revisited her home village of Nagoro more than a decade after leaving it. But inside of finding the small but thriving little community she left, she discovered a ghost town. For various economic and social reasons, everyone left. And this mass departure upset her. So she went about repopulating the village. With life-sized human dolls.
In eleven years she hand made and deposited more than 350 dolls, posing them in an array of ways that make them look rather oddly real. Fishing, working on farms, sitting in school classrooms…
“When I make dolls of dead people, I think about them, when they were alive and healthy,” she said. “The dolls are like my children. “The facial expressions are the hardest part. The lips are difficult. A little tweak and they can look angry,” Ayano added.
If you think that this fishing doll, alone by a river, is unsettling – wait until you see the rest of this strange, strange village. The video has an odd beauty about it but it’s definitely odd. Have a watch:
What did we tell you??? Why not share this peculiarly artistic piece of work with your friends? They’ll love it!
