BARBIE DOLLS on beach

Making a splash! Artist creates 10ft wave entirely out of BARBIE DOLLS on beach in Australia
27 March 2014


Standing 10ft tall and 12ft wide, this is a wave like no other.
Created for an art competition on a beach in Perth, this swell is made entirely out of Barbie dolls.
Some 3,000 of the plastic figures were used to finish the structure – which won first place, scooping Annette Thas $2,500 (￡1,400) for the people's choice award and $2000 (￡1,110) for the kids' choice award.
The Belgian-born, Australian-based artist collected thousands of Barbies from second-hand shops and stuck them together to make the giant doll wave.
Thas said her inspirations for the structure, entered into the Sculpture By The Sea exhibition on Cottesloe Beach, were childhood memories and environmental concerns.


Thas said it had taken her seven weeks 'just to tie the dolls into the frame'.
She added: 'It's first and foremost an artwork on memory and memory of childhood," she said.
'It's such an iconic image people are going to have a relationship with it wherever in the world it's exhibited.'
Now in its tenth year, the initiative featured more than 74 artists showcasing their work in Perth and on Sydney's Bondi beach.


Making waves: The 10ft structure made by Annette Thas is created from more than 3,000 Barbie dolls


Surf's up!: The Wave 1 art installation is displayed on Cottesloe Beach in Perth, Australia as part of the Sculpture by the Sea


Award-winning: Anette Thas scooped two accolades for her Wave 1 project


Wall of Barbie: More than 3,000 plastic dolls were used to make the artwork, which won two awards at the competition