ASMR Spa

Sculptural installation by Oleksandr Kutovyi


2018







Taus Makhacheva creates a live and running spa that incorporates multiple elements including ruin-like sculptural fragments made in collaboration with artist Oleksandr Kutovyi; a new range of beauty products developed for this work by Tigran Geoletsyan from 22|11 Cosmetics; a performance script written by David McDermott; and ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos.

The spa invites visitors to book a Signature Sculptural Facial treatment lasting approximately 29 minutes. The treatment is carried out by a performer while she tells stories of works of art that have been reduced to dust. Each treatment brings the visitor into close proximity with a material history of artworks that are redeployed as ingredients in the cosmetic products. The ASMR Spa poses questions of what does it mean to be restored, and what does it mean to be a restorer.

— Sabih Ahmed



Team


Script

Performers

Daria Bolkhovitina

Beauty products

Costumes

Sculptural installation production                           
Camera

Sound

Slides production

Subtitles

Production 

Research

Photo



David McDermott

Juliet Davis, Alice Lenkiewicz

Daria Bolkhovitina

Tigran Geoletsyan, 22|11 Cosmetics

Karine Temirkhanova

Ian Colligan, Grigory Kostyukov, Oleksandr Kutovyi, Anton Lubny, Artem Mazurkevich, Xenia Nechay, 
Alžběta Kovandová
Alexander Khokhlov

Digital Slides

Andrey Efits, Valeria Kononchuk

Malika Alieva, Sarah Happersberger, Huma Kabakci, Kseniya Skorytchenko, 
Malika Alieva, Sarah Happersberger

Oleksandr Kutuvyi, Taus Makhacheva



Special thanks:
Sabih Ahmed, Michael Banissy, Chris Butler, Brenda Freeman, Beth Jowett, Hazel Kidds, Asya Zaslavskaya, Galina Chernushevich, Metal and Castle Fine Arts Foundry

Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial
Production supported by Georgy Dzhaparidze, narrative projects, London, 22|11 Cosmetics

Courtesy of the artist

Site under construction. Contact: info@tausmakhacheva.com