“Get ready with me for another day in the life—starting with my morning shed. Step 1, remove mouth tape, my silk eye mask, my clear wrapping mask—to stimulate collagen—my face lifting strap to reduce my double chin, my silk hair bonnet to stop breakage of split ends. Step 2, get dressed with me, starting with my perfectly matched PJs, run don’t walk, they’re available on my TT Shop. Try on three different outfits with me (they’re all linked in my Amazon storefront). Actually, I just redid my closet because I got my colors analyzed, and I found out that I’m a bright spring, so the beige just didn’t really compliment my skincare routine. Starting with sunscreen from my favorite brand because my recently microneedled and Tretinoin lathered skin can’t handle the sun—anti-aging, isn’t it so much fun? And how old do I look? I still look young? I go to a boutique Pilates class because I want to look toned and snatched, not bulky, and then go grocery shopping because I need all the vitamins and supplement powder bags (the glow comes from within). Even though I still have that vitamin subscription, they’re coming in monthly, all the boxes piling up, and then the chlorophyll water. I haven’t touched it since 2021 and all my dried out face masks are in the same drawer. I need someone to recommend me new products—seamoss gel, hyper-oxygenated water, collagen jelly? Do I still look young?”
From long-distance airlines offering first-class “sleeping experiences” in your own in-flight hotel room to secluded detox (and rehab) clinics that charge yearly salaries, today, wellness does not merely center “well being,” it has been commodified to further fuel our desires for overconsumption. “Well being” is being maximized to adjust to neoliberal modes of production and consumption, it is no longer about being, it is about continuously leveling up to the next stage. As Carl Cederström and André Spicer argue, “wellness has become a moral and cultural mandate, pushing individuals to view self-optimization as both a personal duty and a status symbol.” “NOWHERE II” asks in what ways wellness has an importance not only a service but also as a social concept and how wellness as well as the luxury market is being negotiated by artists and cultural practitioners. How does the case of wellness reflect the general absurdity of contemporary culture and the creative industry?
Curated by
angels.sc3 (Shelly Lea Reich & Claire Koron Elat)
Participating artists:
Eliza Douglas, Erwan Sene, Amalia Ulman, Varg2TM, and Jan Vorisek
at COUNCIL+, Berlin
until September 15, 2024