 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | Warner Bros. Pictures | | | Welcome to the second consecutive summer of Barbie hype, and it all comes to a climax this weekend, as the world’s first live-action Barbie movie arrives in theatres. CBC News captured all the “Ken-ergy” of Barbie’s Canadian premiere, and stars Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu touched down in Toronto for the event. But even for those of us who’ll never get to walk the pink carpet, Barbie has been the hot topic of the summer, and it’s making me feel as if my brain is a house of 3,000 Barbie dolls (this one … in Saskatoon).
Want to dress like Barbie? Eat like Barbie? As CBC News reported last week, the Barbie movie marketing machine has tapped into the cultural zeitgeist, and the doll’s purveyor, Mattel, is transforming from a toy company to a pop-culture company before our eyes, mining everything from Barney to Uno for Hollywood IP. But who knows? Maybe all those action figure/board game/purple dinosaur projects will be amazing if they’re put in the right hands. I mean, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie influences are so delicious that I am committed to devouring her entire Letterboxd watch list this summer. (“Authentic artificiality” FTW!)
How did we end up in a Barbie world? CBC Radio’s The Current traces the history way, way back, discussing how Barbie has moved with the times (and sometimes got it wrong). For CBC Arts, I got thinky about pink, Barbie’s signature colour. Barbie Pink is actually a registered trademark of Mattel. (And if you’re curious about what trademarking colour actually means, I’d suggest this snappy five-part podcast from the BBC.) There’s a little more trademark trivia in the story too (skip below for the link), and I probably wouldn’t have written the article if I hadn’t seen this, my favourite bonkers headline of the Barbie promo blitz: “Barbie film ‘required so much pink paint it contributed to worldwide shortage.’” | | | | | And because we promised you eye candy ... | | | | |  | Chrystal Phan | | This Barbie is art. The artist? Chrystal Phan, a painter from Victoria who’s in the running for this year’s Kingston Prize. The 2023 finalists were announced last week. | | | | |  | Cara Guri | | Also up for the Kingston Prize? Vancouver’s Cara Guri … | | | | |  | Cassie Suche | | You’d probably have to get yourself a drone if you want to see this view for yourself, but wow. Artist Cassie Suche grew this installation for downtown Calgary’s Harmony Park. The pattern was created with non-toxic dye and fertilizer. As she writes on Instagram (where she’s posted some behind-the-scenes footage), “The dye is intended to fade away, and the work will reappear as darker, lusher grass later in the summer.” | | | | |  | Warner Bros. Pictures | | | | | Does it come in pink? These days, the answer is always yes. Thanks to the Barbie movie, everyone's wearing pink — a colour with a complicated history. | | | | |  | Warner Bros. Pictures | | | | | Culture critics Niko Stratis, Gabrielle Drolet and Jason P. Frank join Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to talk about a promo blitz unlike anything we’ve seen before. | | | | |  | CBC Arts | | | | | | | And now, Canadian filmmaker Ally Pankiw is making the leap to the big screen. On Here & Queer, Ally chats about past projects (Black Mirror, Feel Good), plus her debut feature, I Used to Be Funny. | | |  | Blackpowerbarbie | | This Barbie is a badass illustrator. And if you’re a long-time CBC Arts fan, you’ll remember Blackpowerbarbie (a.k.a. Amika Cooper) from way, way back in 2018, when the Toronto artist popped up on CBC Arts: Exhibitionists. | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
