Process

Click on an image to enlarge and get a slide show with explanation of the process of making the dolls. To see photos of some of the 1,000 dolls we distributed around Jerusalem and photos people sent in, click on the photo gallery. There is also a catalog available where you can see all of the dolls.

The piece started with our noticing clothes left around the city, usually in tidy bundles or bags. At first we started washing the clothes then realized that most clothes were put out clean, dry, and folded.
When we got the clothing home we cut off the buttons and seams, hems and collars to make flat pieces of cloth. We made a template and used it to mark the cloth, making torsos and legs.
After stitching the shape we cut out the forms.
We worked on the piece for 3 years. The materials occupied corners of rooms, furniture.
Even though we didn't work on the piece everyday, it was always around. It seemed that the sewing machine never got put away.
We used 45 kilos (about 100 pounds) of orlon to stuff the dolls.
Each doll had 8 separate sets of stitching. The process was a mix of assembly line production and intensive hand labor.
Throughout the process we maintained accurate records of how many doll parts we had made.
This project has been something of a logistical challenge. The dolls have taken over an entire room of our small apartment.
As the numbers grew they were transferred from bags to cardboard boxes to larger bags and finally to bags used on construction sites.
To ensure diversity, the torsos and legs were sewn together only after all of the pieces had been constructed. The two pieces were selected randomly and then joined.
Each doll was hand diapered.
All of the dolls were given an identifying tag with either a pink or blue ribbon.
So people would know that the dolls were theirs for the taking, the tags say 'for you' in both English and Hebrew.
Carrying 200 of the 1,000 dolls, snacks and a change of shoes to the car.The big plaid bags each held 75 dolls, the plastic bag held 50 and the canvas bags could hold 20.
Friends loaned us their car overnight to reach the outer ring of the city. We drove around from midnight until 9 in the morning making deliveries. The first 200 took us 4 hours. We delivered 400 while we had the car.
We pulled each doll to be placed at random from the bag, in other words we didn't choose which doll went where.
600 dolls were delivered as we walked around the city. The most we carried was 100 each. Each of the dolls was left outside in a public place.
We left dolls in parks, on benches, in phone booths, on walls, on stairs, and bus stops among other places.
We divided the city into neighborhoods. We were able to store dolls at friends houses around the city. We didn't attract much attention. We felt invisible. A few people stopped us to ask what we were doing.
Once we put the doll down we let go and walked away. We passed by places we had left a doll and saw that they had either been taken or moved. We have heard from people who have found dolls and hope to hear from more.