Sunday, May 31, 2009

Artist hopes to encourage organ donation with his dolls

From Newslite.tv in the UK:

An artist has created a set of vinyl figures which he hopes will encourage more people to donate their organs.

David Foox came up with the idea for his 'Organ Donors' collection - dolls which have hearts, lungs, eyeballs and brains for heads - after a family member had a double lung transplant.

While 'Uncle Ken' survived the op, David wanted to use his art to draw attention to organ donation and started work on the 24 doll collection.

The £10 figures come in 'blind boxes' meaning the buyer does not know what they have got until they open it ... and their gory nature could leave surprised heart attack victims needing a transplant.

"Human body parts are interchangeable and as much as we know about the body, there is so much more to learn," said Foox from Denver.

"It is a conceptual way of dealing with our humanity - whether physical or spiritual. It is also supposed to be a lighthearted approach to a serious, bloody, and gory issue."
He says most people have reacted positively to seeing the figures though sometimes people think they are "spooky" or "freaky".

The collection can be ordered online.