BABES IN THE WOODS is an art computer game for women and girls (but men are welcome to play also!). Players solve puzzles as they follow three “goddesses” – the first is a Barbie doll on a quest for her pubic hair. The second is the spirit of Cleopatra, seeking to be reborn as a contemporary woman of colour. The third is a cranky old Anglo-Saxon bag of bones, looking for her flesh.

I designed and wrote the project, and Terry McAuliffe programmed it.

Because of Mattel’s litigious actions against artists using images of Barbie dolls
(since defeated in a test case), we decided to give away the CDs as a culture jamming protest. In all over 600 games were given away, including several given by the French newspaper Liberation, Xtra! Magazine, and Michelle Landsberg, who wrote a Toronto Star column about the game.

Unfortunately, like so many artists’ web and software projects, the game is no longer compatible with current Mac and PC operating systems, and can’t be downloaded. 2001.