Conducted by a performer, each treatment brought the participant into close proximity with the materiality of artworks through the ingredients in the cosmetic products used, posing the question of what it means to be a restorer, or to be restored. Each one-to-one session included a surface assessment, deep cleaning and plastifying masks and lasted approximately thirty minutes, during which a performer recited stories about disappeared artworks throughout history.
The spa products were designed by Tigran Geletsyan from 22|11 Cosmetics exclusively for this project. The sessions were conducted by performers following a script by writer David McDermott.
Presented as part of Taus Makhacheva’s Hold your horses exhibition. Hold your horses was presented in partnership with Liverpool Biennial and supported with National Lottery funding through Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring fund. With thanks to narrative projects, London.