Touch 2.0

A Fun Creation

Sofia Irigoyen

"Giving one's lover a lock of hair to wear in a small locket around his neck to be a moving and tender gesture, but also a dangerous one, since to spell-casters, magicians, voodoo-ers, and necromancers of all sorts, a tuft of someone's hair could be used to cast a spell against them."

In this project I created my own version of a voodoo doll. As scared and hyper sensitive as some people can be to them, I like the idea of them. In ways this correlates to Ackermans writing in the Touch section. Some cultural practices take voodoo dolls seriously, which connects this made and crafted doll to a real human being. In an interesting light, this creation of an object which it spiritually tied to a being brings attention to our desire and need for the closeness and control over others that human nature naturally seeks. Voodoo dolls, are a very interesting and smart way to connect us, to the feeling that others can take from us. I made a voodoo doll completely out of yarn, a soft object that when bundled together is hard and bone like. 

"According to the Bible account, when Issac grew old and lost his sight, he called his son Esau to kiss him and receive a blessing, but Jacob put on Esau's clothing and, because he smelled like Esau to his blind father, received the kiss instead."

Although this section is on kissing and voodoo dolls don't have much to do with that, I enjoyed the way Ackerman used this example of relating the Bible to such a human thing. To not include the Bible, which at its core highlights and storitells the beauty and destruction, the creation of human kind. I wanted to highlight this text in particular because as I was creating this voodoo doll, this mini yarn human, I gained a better understanding when the Bible talks about how God created us and built us. My yarn human is no where near the perfectly imperfect humans God made of us all, but I understood how delicate, and how much of a privilege it is to create something from scratch.