Of the many objects that wash up upon the shores of the Falls of the Ohio, few have the visceral effect that these found dolls produce. For as long as I have been doing this project, I have been amazed by how many of these toys I have come across. The various toy balls are the only other playthings that surpass these lost dolls. The wayward balls I can understand getting into the river because most of them are round and inflated with air! It would be very easy for a lost ball to become washed or even blown into the river, but what is the story with these dolls? I came across an especially interesting doll recently and thought I would introduce the lost doll topic.
I came across this doll laying face down in the soft earth. Several pieces of driftwood partially obscured a full view. Recognizing what it was I reached down and lifted the doll up and was amazed that several plants clinging to the body had used this decaying doll as a substrate and were in fact growing on it! I have seen many abandoned dolls, but this one was unique because nature was so actively intertwined with it. I eventually placed the doll in a sitting position on a log near the place it was discovered, took my pictures and walked away.
The moment of discovery always produces a double-take for me. There is a slight hesitation before the brain registers the scale differences and I recognize what this really is…just a toy. I have come across little hands sticking up out of the sand that have sent fearful jolts of adrenalin rushing through me. People are always asking me if I have ever discovered a human body before? Fortunately, I haven’t, but these things come a close second.
No doubt about it…these objects are psychologically charged like creepy clowns are and stumbling across a lost doll is like viewing a mini crime scene. The idea that we would intend a representation of an infant as a plaything strikes me as an odd idea. So what are these dolls doing in the river so far from home and the people who care for them?
At first I thought it was plausible that many of the hundred or so dolls I’ve found in six years simply washed off or accidently fell off recreation boats. And then I thought that perhaps the world is just full of mean prankster boys who think it’s fun to throw sister’s doll into the river. There is that scene in the first Toy Story movie where the boy next door, Sid, engages in this kind of behavior. And then another idea occurred to me that also seemed possible.
What if it’s not little boys, but instead little girls that are tossing out the baby with the bath water? What if even on a subconscious level, these girls are rebelling against gender stereotypes they don’t fully understand? Aren’t many of the baby dolls intended to reinforce the notion of girls becoming mothers? I have had conversations with female friends who said that they never could relate to dolls and prefered other toys instead.
My wife reminded me that boys play with dolls too and that’s certainly true. I had a G.I. Joe action figure “we” (me and the other boys in the neighborhood) eventually blew up in the sandbox…ala Sid. The truth about the river dolls is that every possible way one can imagine these objects getting into the water can and does happen. I have this other mental image of the dolls that missed the Falls, continuing on their long watery journey until they reach the Gulf of Mexico and then its open ocean from there as the currents circumnavigate the globe with them.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
Holy cow–that doll with the plants growing out of it is REALLY amazing. It’s interesting how it takes on this sort of cyborg quality… it makes me think of science fiction and fairy tales. Creepy and melancholy and marvelous. What a wild thing to find.
Those are good ways to describe these things. They are like discarded characters from wild fairy tales. Nice to hear from you!
Organic water babies! What an interesting post Al! 100 dolls in six years seems like an epidemic – almost has biblical connoctations (Herod killing all the male babies). As a child I could never throw one of my many dolls away, they were little humans and they all had personalities and names. It is a mystery where these could have come from though. Why not give them away, why throw them in the river? (if they were thrown). That little hand in the last pic is so sad. The one with the wild hair and grey suit on is more scary though. Talk about Day of the Triffids! (the organic dolly)…. what is the ratio dollys v action men found?
Really good and interesting post!
Thanks Lynda. I did hesitate with this post because the images are creepy and in some cases, heart breaking. I have a large collection of found doll photos (mostly on print film) that would make a twisted book some day. In the meantime, stuff keeps washing up on these fabled shores! My guess is that some of these dolls may have come as far away as Pittsburgh where the Ohio River is formed by two smaller rivers joining together. Many of these dolls probably have been buried under the driftwood at the Falls for years and years only to be revealed after a flood moves the material above them.
[…] by artistatthexit0′ s latest post about the dolls he has found in the river, made me think about artist’s who use the doll in their work. Of […]
Hi artistexit0!
Lynda sent me over. What a post! It has helped me see a few things more clearly. I never liked dolls from a very young age. I have two children and I don’t think I raised them poorly because I didn’t play with dolls? I played with Breyer horses and I can assure they are not in the river but in the hands of my grand daughter being played with. I think I might have dug a hole and buried that little doll who was growing new life so the plant could survive. What an interesting message if I allow my mind to travel in a positive direction. What a wonderful thought-provoking post you have written and Now I’d like to browse a little!
Hi Leslie…thanks for coming to the river with me. I have worked many sides to the art box, but have decided that I needed to place my art more directly in support of life and the physical environment. My blog is the result! I want my work to be seen in this context which includes the other things that live here. Those Breyer horses are so nice and I’m happy to report never having found one!