Soap Berries at Scholar’s Rock
2021

Soap Berries at Scholar’s Rock
2021
mix media
This is a dioramic remake of a 2003 Herbal Essences shampoo advert in which a racially ambiguous (maybe Asian) woman is transported to an orgasmic exotic rainforest location as she lathers up and washes her hair. The advert uses Orientalist notions of Asian beauty regimes as imbibed with the exotic, sensual, luxurious and spiritually enriched powers of nature. I discovered a long history of the marketing of hair treatments and experiences as beneficial Asian practices to European women that goes back to 1814 when “Shampooing” was introduced in London by British Indian entrepreneur Dean Mahomed. In my twist of the advert, the museum visitor activates the work by pulling on a rope hand pump, drawing water up from inside a faux regency writing desk and allowing it to waterfall down through a papier-mâché rockscape. The water splashes onto a scenography of mini self-portraits of me: one washing their hair; another me making out under the waterfall with a masculine version of me; then there are 3 more me’s enjoying washing my hair some more, then climbing the rocks before jumping on a motorbike and riding off the mountain. Note that each of the figurines of me has monster green eyes and demon tongues.
To Be Like Water
TENT, Rotterdam
curated by Kris Dittel
17 December 2021 – 22 May 2022



