The Evolution of Little R
Little R has been through more than her fair share of physical transformations over the course of the project (and I can’t entirely guarantee there won’t be more in the future, given what technology might one day render possible.) The Dollhouse Project began as an experimental narrative that followed the life of a miniature version of myself, so naturally, it was necessary to produce this miniature alter ego, one that not only bore some basic likeness to myself but was also pose-able and flexible enough to be staged in various scenes.
Version 1.0
Little R has existed in some form or the other since 2017. If you look back at her very first avatar though, you can see, only too plainly, that I grossly overestimated my sculpting prowess. Why I believed I could make a 5-inch doll that was not only fully pose-able but also looked like me, I couldn’t fathom. Anyhow, after producing a head and a torso and a pair of (not very functional) arms out of polymer clay, I soon found myself wholly unsatisfied with the results.
And tragic as it is for Little R, I abandoned the process halfway. For many months, Little R walked around (well, I say “walked” rather loosely) with nothing more than a head and torso. I used to strategically stage her in scenes to hide the obviously missing bottom half of her body, much like how pregnant women in TV shows conceal their baby bump with a strategically positioned potted plant or some such.
Version 1.2
Soon after though, I stumbled upon a 1:12 plastic ball-jointed pose-able doll and I decided it was time to sell out and buy her body off the rack. Really, it was the best way forward for everyone. And after some Frankenstein-esque surgical experimentation, Little R was finally mobile with a fully functional body that included a brand new pair of legs.
While she spent a fairly happy year with her new body, it was becoming clear that it wasn’t going to last. Her ball-jointed limbs weren’t taking very well to her job (i.e. being staged and posed everyday in various scenes for this very project). And before long, her limbs were beginning to give way – her arms were falling off, her hands wouldn’t stay attached to her wrists, her legs were twisting at strange and inhuman angles.
And it was just then, like a sign from the gods, that Phicen came out with their brand new TBLeague 1:12 super-flexible seamless silicone doll (previously only sold 1:6 or larger). And the Phicen is basically the Cadillac of miniature dolls – I really can’t imagine how these dolls could be made any better. They’re not paying me to say this. Technically, technically, I believe the Phicen is essentially a miniature version of those eerily realistic, life-sized silicone sex dolls that sell for thousands of dollars – you know the type. (I mean the miniature is basically sold by bust-size and has a fully sculpted vagina for Chrissake, what else am I supposed to make of that?) Out of decency for Little R, I’m censoring the photographs below, but really, you should check these things out – they’ve got some scarily realistic musculature and are quite the anatomical marvel for something so tiny.
Check out those stomach muscles!
Quite a lot of beheading goes on at The Dollhouse Project.
Though, word to the wise: If you are considering buying this tiny doll for any reason whatsoever (hey, I don’t judge), I’d suggest you go one bust-size smaller than the one you want. A ‘medium’ was most certainly not a ‘medium’ by miniature sex-doll standards. *Rolls eyes*
Version 2.0
In any case, tiny sex doll or not, this was the doll I had to have for Little R. I bought it within five minutes of discovering it, and it was then promptly beheaded upon arrival, ready for its new head to be mounted upon its neck. But at this point I decided it was time to give Little R a new, properly sculpted face. Truly, the Phicen deserves a head sculpted by someone who actually knows what he/she is doing. And so I went to the best person I knew – artist, sculptor and filmmaker, Manush John, who is an expert at digitally sculpting people’s faces based on reference photographs. And from him, I commissioned a digital sculpt of my face. Watch some of his sculpting process below.
After he finished the digital sculpt, I then Photoshopped my own face onto it, to see if it lined up. And it did! Albeit a little creepily… But then again, this whole project is just different levels of creepy anyway.
I then had the digital sculpture 3D printed out of resin, after which I painted it and added an M-Seal haircap. And thus, the current version of Little R came to be. For now anyway.
Though I’m not quite sure how much she understands about it. As far as she knows, she struck a deal with the devil and traded her old body in for a new one – and before she knew it, she was waking up face-down in the street with a brand new face and a rather expensive new silicone body. Watch the ‘Body Swap’ episode from Season 2!
The Future of AI x Little R
I do of course hope this body is here to stay for at least a little while. Mercifully though, her face is now human enough for artificial intelligence to detect – meaning, I now get to use AI face apps and filters to make her look young, old, fat or bespectacled, put make-up on her, make her smile more and even make her sing. So with any luck, the wonders of artificial intelligence will take care of all of Little R’s future avatars and I won’t have to jump through hoops to produce anymore practical effects. Anyway, here’s Little R singing (inaudibly, of course – she’s too small for the mic to pick up any sound) for your amusement.
