Kim Simonsson's Alien Innocence

Went to Border's today to find one of the artsy magazine's so I could complete this assignment. i looked at art forumn and some other mags that seemed to be mostly flat of 2d art. then Sculpture caught my eye, I flipped thru it an dfound many articles and images that were intrigueing. First, a Finnish artist who works in ceramics(not my fav) which after seeing Simonsson's strange manga like ghostly children sculptures. They seem to be about innocence lost in some mirrored shimmery synthetic. surface. One is spitting a long glass drip of saliva, one has a n elephant head and sits on the floor in a public restroom(really in a public restroom). Another is flattening some sort of shiny metallic dog, another is made of the same tile pattern as the public bathroom she hides in. These ceramic children appear alone and isolated the shiny ceramic surfaces make them seem prescious and fragil but simaltaneously cold and ghostly. There is anadmitted manga style to these children. Simonsson is commeting on the youth culture of today, well groomed, high-glossy, the image of perfection, at what cost. perhaps our lifestyles and obsession with glowing shimmery slickness and perfection has caused us to despise the imperfections that make us human and vulnerable. Maybe it were better if we were bugs with thick exoskeletons and hive mentalities. Seems we don't celebrate much about being human any more we strive to be more like the dolls and machines that we create. Documentary photographer Laureen Greenway captures the youth of LA , these girls are getting nose and boob jobs at 16, before they are even developed. Why would a 16 year old want a boob job>? Why are we obsessed with perfection? I thought human individuality and imperfection was what makes us different special something that cannot be copied or duplicated- oh wait I forgot about cloning-wonder if when we do clone humans if they will ahve the freckles and moles and strech marks and sweet scents that makes us human. Maybe we will have to redefine what being human means anymore. Why do we not like the way we smell? Perhaps Simonsson's children are the perfect child-quiet, shiny and void of human scent. Who needs real humans ? We can just create a breed that looks feels and smells just like real ....plastic.