Aesthetic Health:
Separation, Conjunction and Beauty in ARMAR's "Un zumo de pelo"
“In our culture, man has always been thought of as the articulation and conjunction of a body and a soul, of a living thing and a logos, of a natural (or animal) element and a supernatural or social or divine element. We must learn instead to think of man as what results from the incongruity of these two elements, and investigate not the metaphysical mystery of conjunction, but rather the practical and political mystery of separation. What is man, if he is always the place—and, at the same time, the result—of ceaseless divisions and caesurae?”
Giorgio Agamben (2002), The Open: Man and Animal, (trans. Kevin Attell, 2004), Stanford, Stanford University Press, p. 16.
ARMAR’s inaugural event Un zumo de pelo established an innovative connection between two seemingly unrelated businesses that are situated on opposite sides of the same city block in Bilbao, Spain. The Fruit Market Frutas Unzueta-Salado supplied a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and the Beauty Salon Peluquería NONO Sánchez supplied an “aesthetic” location in which to create juices. Members of ARMAR supplied all of the remaining necessities from their individual homes, and during a working day in April 2013, ARMAR made healthy, natural juices to share with the public.
The juices of distinct fruits and vegetables were separated from their pulp with the use of an electro-domestic kitchen appliance. Following a series of recipes from the rebar cookbook, specific amounts of fruit and vegetable juices were then combined to prepare delicious mixtures such as “Atomic Glow”, “The Atomizer” and “El Diablo”. The prepared juices were tested by ARMAR, modified if necessary, and then offered to clients at the Beauty Salon. Trays of juices were also prepared and taken into the street. In addition to offering free juices to all of the businesses between the Fruit Market and the Beauty Salon, juices were also offered for free to passersby.
Despite not having specific artistic goals, Un zumo de Pelo generated a unique opportunity for observation. My personal interest was focused on trying to find possible connections between aesthetics[1] and health. This became most obvious by demonstrating our constitutive cycle of sensing, evaluating and nourishing. As a general rule, we don’t consume unlabelled products without perceiving and analyzing them first. The discrimination of what we consume assures the maintenance of our homeostasis by helping us to avoid sickness while strengthening immunity and perpetuating life cycles. Thus, our aesthetic discrimination of sources of nourishment is one way in which aesthetics connects to health.
More generally, the connection of aesthetics and health became apparent in observing the social interactions that were instigated by Un zumo de pelo. The transformative conception of “self” and self-esteem come to mind when thinking about a beauty salon. How we perceive our self and how others perceive us are definitely important factors in our mental and emotional health. Here the same sensing-evaluating-nourishing loop applies, however nourishment must be thought less in terms of biology and more in terms of psychology. Personal perception and analysis also move from the subject itself to the context of the interaction. For Un zumo de pelo, this context is quantitatively defined by its time and place; a working day on April 18, 2013, in the neighbourhood of San Inazio in Bilbao, Spain. Qualitatively, however, the context was defined by the presentation of the juices—and the project in general—by the members of ARMAR. This presentation began indirectly through an urban poster and social media campaign, and a video animation window display in the beauty salon. Direct presentation during the event happened as we personally presented our juices to the public. We, in effect, became the labels for the juices we offered, and it quickly became clear that not all labels are equal.
[1] “Aesthetics refers to a specific regime for identifying and reflecting on the arts: a mode of articulation between ways of doing and making, their corresponding forms of visibility, and possible ways of thinking about their relationships.” RANCIÈRE, Jacques (trans. Gabriel Rockhill). The Politics of Aesthetics, 10th ed. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2011: p. 10.
When choosing fruits and vegetables in the market, threats generally take the forms of decay and uncleanliness. Not only do we avoid produce that is unappealing—that looks and smells bad—but we gravitate towards attractive fruits and vegetables for a reason; they usually taste better and last longer. Obviously, we use our perception to determine that the food we choose to buy and eat is attractive. In fact, this is where the definition of “beauty” originates. “The Koine Greek word for beautiful was ὡραῖος, hōraios,[1] an adjective etymologically coming from the word ὥρα, hōra, meaning ‘hour’. In Koine Greek, beauty was thus associated with ‘being of one's hour’[2].”[3] Beyond being able to identify ripe fruits and vegetables, however, we also use acquired knowledge to determine a norm against which we measure and make evaluations and judgements. Acquired knowledge—memory—of context is also important and in addition to discriminating objects on the basis of physical irregularity and difference, we tend to also discriminate if something is out of context.
Despite being a generous, communal project, “out of context” could easily describe Un zumo de pelo as well. In fact, being “out of context” is precisely what enables Un zumo de pelo to function as an artistic endeavour, through the generation of difference. Innovation is the creation of difference, and we intended to do so positively. Art galleries and museums generally try to provide a neutral visual space so that the inherent difference of any art project is experienced as “separate” and can be more easily focused upon and evaluated. Being “out of context” in a gallery or museum is next to impossible, and perhaps this is a necessity when creating a space that doesn't threaten open thought and honest dialogue. There is something castrating about this situation, however, and Un zumo de pelo wanted to deny this separation of art from everyday life.
By being out of context, Un zumo de pelo provoked reactions and ARMAR gathered observations. For example, it is not normal to offer anything to strangers in public without wanting something in return. It seems that obligation has become an inherent aspect of public interaction with strangers, and as such, strangers asking for or offering something in public are viewed with scepticism and generally avoided. While offering our juices, strangers were far more receptive when the women members of ARMAR presented them. When the European, North American and South American members of ARMAR presented the juices, a big difference in reception was also quite obvious. Sexism and racial discrimination continue to be realities of our daily aesthetic lives.
Despite being viewed initially with scepticism, however, the vast majority of the public tried our juices after we verbally presented our project. Just as each member of ARMAR brought a different knife, towel and set of glasses for the event, so did each member present the project differently to the public. For me, it was very interesting and informative to see such a variety of strategies implemented, especially since Un zumo de pelo was our inaugural project. Perhaps the best compliment we received came from the workers of the many businesses between the fruit market and the beauty salon. Quite simply, they thanked us for making an ordinary workday extraordinary. As a general goal for ARMAR, making the ordinary extraordinary is something to keep in mind for future projects. Un zumo de pelo was a great start, making difference positive while positively making a difference. ©RW
ARMAR is an artist collective based in Bilbao. Its founding members are Álvaro Aroca Cordoba, Rakel Gómez Vázquez, Marta Ramírez Cores, Arturo Cancio and Robert Waters.
Photographs are courtesy of Teresa Ormazabal and ARMAR© 2013.
